Maurice Lévy (February 28, 1838, in Ribeauvillé – September 30, 1910, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

) was a French

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

and member of the

Institut de France The ; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the . It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute manages approximately ...

. Lévy was born in Ribeauvillé in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

. Educated at the

École Polytechnique (, ; also known as Polytechnique or l'X ) is a ''grande école'' located in Palaiseau, France. It specializes in science and engineering and is a founding member of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris. The school was founded in 1794 by mat ...

, where he was a student of

Adhémar Jean Claude Barré de Saint-Venant Adhemar is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Adhemar of Salerno (died 861), prince * Adhemar of Capua (died after 1000), prince * Adhémar de Chabannes (988–1034), French monk and historian * ...

,Osakada K., p.24 and the

École des Ponts et Chaussées École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

, he became an engineer in 1863. During the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

(1870–1871), he was entrusted by the

Government of National Defense The Government of National Defense () was the first government of the Third Republic of France from 4 September 1870 to 13 February 1871 during the Franco-Prussian War. It was formed after the proclamation of the Republic in Paris on 4 September ...

with the control of part of the artillery. During the next decade he held several educational positions, becoming

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

at the École Centrale in 1875, member of the commission of the geodetic survey of France in 1879, and professor at the

Collège de France The (), formerly known as the or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment () in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The has been considered to be France's most ...

in 1885.

Total strain theory

Lévy changed the assumption, "the directions of principal strains coincide with those of the principal stresses", stated by Saint-Venant, to "the directions of increments of principal strains coincide with those of the principal stresses" and that was also the first attempt of using an incremental flow rule. In 1888 Lévy inaugurated a system of boat-traction by means of overhead cables. A trial system was installed between

Joinville-le-Pont Joinville-le-Pont () is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. History The commune was created in 1791 under the name La Branche-du-Pont-de-Saint-Maur (literally "The Branch of Saint-Mau ...

and Saint-Maurice; it consisted of an endless cable which was kept in motion by powerful steam-engines and to which boats were attached and thus kept at a speed of four kilometers an hour. The system proved unsatisfactory, however.

Selected works

Lévy is the author of several works, including: * "La Statique Graphique et Ses Applications à l'Art des Constructions" (1874; 2d ed. 1887); * "Sur le Principe d'Énergie" (1888); * "Étude des Moyens de Traction des Bateaux: Le Halage Funiculaire" (with M. G. Pavie, 1894) Lévy also wrote papers on

kinematics In physics, kinematics studies the geometrical aspects of motion of physical objects independent of forces that set them in motion. Constrained motion such as linked machine parts are also described as kinematics. Kinematics is concerned with s ...

mechanics Mechanics () is the area of physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among Physical object, physical objects. Forces applied to objects may result in Displacement (vector), displacements, which are changes of ...

, physical mathematics,

geometry Geometry (; ) is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician w ...

, etc., in the "''

Comptes rendus de l'Académie des sciences (, ''Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences''), or simply ''Comptes rendus'', is a French scientific journal published since 1835. It is the proceedings of the French Academy of Sciences. It is currently split into seven sections, published o ...

''", the "'' Journal de l'École Polytechnique''", and the "''

Journal de Mathématiques Pures et Appliquées The ''Journal de Mathématiques Pures et Appliquées'' () is a French monthly scientific journal of mathematics, founded in 1836 by Joseph Liouville (editor: 1836–1874). The journal was originally published by Charles Louis Étienne Bachelier. ...

''". Lévy was an officer of the

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

and of public instruction, and a member of the Academy of Sciences and of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Rome.

Notes

References

Maurice Lévy

Isidore Singer Isidore Singer (10 November 1859 – 20 February 1939) was an Austrian-born American encyclopedist and editor of '' The Jewish Encyclopedia'' and founder of the American League for the Rights of Man. Biography Singer was born in 1859 in ...

& Victor Rousseau Emanuel. ''

The Jewish Encyclopedia ''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on the ...

'' * C. E. Curinier, Dictionnaire national des contemporains, 1899 *Osakada K. The 9th International Conference on Technology of Plasticity, Plenary 4, p. 24, History of Plasticity and Metal Forming Analysis.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Levy, Maurice 1838 births 1910 deaths People from Ribeauvillé French engineers 19th-century French mathematicians 20th-century French mathematicians Members of the French Academy of Sciences Alsatian Jews École Polytechnique alumni Academic staff of the Collège de France