René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur (28 February 1683 La Rochelle - 17 October 1757 Saint-Julien-du-Terroux) was a French scientist who contributed to many different fields, especially the study of insects.
Réaumur was born in a prominent La Rochelle family and educated in Paris. He learned philosophy in the Jesuits' college at Poitiers, and in 1699 went to Bourges to study civil law and mathematics under the charge of an uncle, canon of La Sainte-...
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René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur (28 February 1683 La Rochelle - 17 October 1757 Saint-Julien-du-Terroux) was a French scientist who contributed to many different fields, especially the study of insects.
Réaumur was born in a prominent La Rochelle family and educated in Paris. He learned philosophy in the Jesuits' college at Poitiers, and in 1699 went to Bourges to study civil law and mathematics under the charge of an uncle, canon of La Sainte-Chapelle. In 1703 he came to Paris, where he continued the study of mathematics and physics, and in 1708, aged only twenty-four, was nominated by Pierre Varignon (who taught him mathematics) and elected a member of the Académie des Sciences. From this time onwards for nearly half a century hardly a year passed in which the Mémoires de l'Académie did not contain at least one paper by Réaumur.
At first his attention was occupied by mathematical studies, especially in geometry. In 1710 he was placed in charge of a major government project–the...
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