Simon de la Loubère (; 21 April 1642 – 26 March 1729) was a French

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

to Siam (Thailand), writer, mathematician and poet. He is credited with bringing back a document which introduced Europe to

Indian astronomy Astronomy has a long history in the Indian subcontinent, stretching from History of India, pre-historic to History of India (1947–present), modern times. Some of the earliest roots of Indian astronomy can be dated to the period of Indus Valle ...

, the " Siamese method" of making

magic square In mathematics, especially History of mathematics, historical and recreational mathematics, a square array of numbers, usually positive integers, is called a magic square if the sums of the numbers in each row, each column, and both main diago ...

s, as well as one of the earliest descriptions of

parachute A parachute is a device designed to slow an object's descent through an atmosphere by creating Drag (physics), drag or aerodynamic Lift (force), lift. It is primarily used to safely support people exiting aircraft at height, but also serves va ...

Mission to Siam

Simon de la Loubère led an embassy to

Siam Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

(modern

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

) in 1687 (the "La Loubère- Céberet mission"). The embassy, composed of five warships, arrived in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

in October 1687 and was received by Ok-khun Chamnan. La Loubère returned to France on board the ''Gaillard'' on 3 January 1688, accompanied by the Jesuit Guy Tachard, and a Siamese embassy led by Ok-khun Chamnan. Upon his return, La Loubère wrote a description of his travels, as had been requested by

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

, published under the title '' Du Royaume de Siam'': "It was by the orders, which I had the honours to receive from the King upon leaving for my voyage to Siam, that I observed in that country, as exactly as possible, all that appeared to be the most singular. Loubère also brought back with him an obscure manuscript relating to the astronomical traditions of Siam, which he passed on to the famous French-Italian astronomer Jean Dominique Cassini. The Siamese Manuscript, as it is now called, intrigued Cassini enough so that he spent a couple years deciphering its cryptic contents, determining on the way that the document originated in India. His explication of the manuscript appeared in La Loubere's book on the Kingdom of Siam in 1691, which laid the first foundation of European scholarship on

French career

La Loubère was elected member of the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

(1693–1729), where he received Seat 16, following the 1691 publication of his book ''Du Royaume de Siam''. La Loubère was a friend of the German scientist

Gottfried Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (or Leibnitz; – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat who is credited, alongside Isaac Newton, Sir Isaac Newton, with the creation of calculus in ad ...

, and once wrote that he had "no greater joy than (to discuss) philosophy and mathematics" with him (22 January 1681 correspondence).

Magic square

La Loubère brought to France from his Siamese travels a very simple method for creating n-odd

magic squares In mathematics, especially historical and recreational mathematics, a square array of numbers, usually positive integers, is called a magic square if the sums of the numbers in each row, each column, and both main diagonals are the same. The " ...

, known as the " Siamese method" or the "La Loubère method", which apparently was initially brought from

Surat Surat (Gujarati Language, Gujarati: ) is a city in the western Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. The word Surat directly translates to ''face'' in Urdu, Gujarati language, Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of t ...

, India, by another Frenchman by the surname of Vincent, who was sailing on the return ship with La Loubère.

Siamese parachute

La Loubère is also famous for making one of the earliest account of a

following his embassy to Siam. He reported in his 1691 book that a man would jump from a high place with two large umbrellas to entertain the king of Siam, landing into trees, rooftops, and sometimes rivers.

Works

*''Du Royaume de Siam'', 1691: Full text in French
volume 1volume 2
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English translation
*''Traité de l'origine des jeux floraux de Toulouse'' (1715) *''De la Résolution des équations, ou de l'Extraction de leurs racines'', 173
Full text

References