Edouard Biot

Édouard Constant Biot (born July 2, 1803 in Paris , † March 12, 1850 in Paris) was a French engineer and sinologist .

life and work

Édouard Biot was the son of the mathematician and physicist Jean-Baptiste Biot . After training at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand , he was accepted at the Paris École polytechnique in 1822 , but decided not to enter the school and to continue his studies on his own. In 1825 and 1826 he accompanied his father as an assistant on a scientific trip to Italy, Illyria and Spain.

After returning to France, he initially pursued a career in the developing railway industry. In 1827 he and Marc Seguin acquired the concession to build the railway line from Lyon to Saint-Étienne . After completing this project in 1833, he studied classical Chinese with Stanislas Julien at the Collège de France . After writing numerous treatises on Chinese astronomy, mathematics, geography, history, society and administration, he was appointed a member of the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres in 1847. He was also a member of the Asian Society in Paris and London and other learned societies .

After three years of marriage, his wife died in 1846. He was unable to recover from the subsequent illness and died four years later at the age of 46.

Édouard Biot wrote one of the first handbooks on railway construction, the Manuel du constructeur des chemins de fer (published in 1834), as well as numerous treatises on Chinese culture , most of which appeared in the Journal asiatique . He also translated into French both technical and sinological works: a treatise on machines and manufactories by the Englishman Charles Babbage and the Chinese administrative list Le Tcheou-li, ou Rites des Tcheou from the 11th century BC, which is part of the Book of Rites . His work has not lost its importance to this day.

Works

• Le Tcheou-li, ou Rites des Tcheou (From the Book of Rites) - ( Digitized I , II )
• Notice on quelques procédés industriels connus en Chine au XVIe siècle ( digitized version )
• Mémoire sur la population de la Chine ( digitized version )
• Mémoire sur la condition des esclaves en Chine ( digital copy )
• Mémoire sur le système monétaire des Chinois ( digitized version )
• Mémoire sur les recensements des terres ( digitized version )
• Mémoire sur la condition de la propriété territoriale en Chine ( digitized version )
• Note sur la connaissance que les Chinois ont eue de la valeur de position des ciffres ( digitized version )
• Traité complet de l'art de compter ( digitized version )
• Mémoire sur divers minéraux chinois ( digitized version )
• Mémoire sur les montagnes et cavernes de la Chine ( digitized version )
• Recherches sur la hauteur ( digitized version )
• Recherches sur la température ancienne de la Chine ( digitized version )
• Tchou-chou-ki-nien ( digitized version )
• Traduction et explication du Tchéou-peï ( digitized version )
• Mémoire sur le chapitre Yu-kong du Chi-king ( digitized version )
• Mémoire sur les déplacements du cours inférieur du fleuve Jaune ( digitized version )
• Recherches sur les mœurs anciennes des Chinois ( digitized version )
• Mémoire sur l'extension progressive des côtes orientales de la Chine ( digitized version )

Web links

Wikisource: Édouard Constant Biot  - Sources and full texts