List of French inventors and discoverers

The list of French inventors and discoverers is a list of inventors and discoverers from France in alphabetical order by family name.

list

A.

Clément Ader , 1922

Clément Ader : Theatrophon 1881, flying apparatus Ader Éole III , 1897
Edmond Albius : Réunion - Manual pollination of the spice vanilla , 1841
André-Marie Ampère : Physicist and mathematician - flowing electricity as the cause of magnetism , current direction, Ampère's law , unit ampere
Jules Andrade : Patent for a chronometer regulator with cylindrical spirals without end curves, 1913
François Nicolas Appert , Canned Food Preservation
Ferdinand Arnodin : Arnodinkabel (twisted steel cable), Transporter Bridge , 1893 (with Alberto de Palacio )

B.

Antoine-Jerome Balard ; Discovered the chemical element bromine , 1826
Charles Barbier : Night writing , forerunner of Braille , 1815
Françoise Barré-Sinoussi , Discovery of the HI virus , 1983 (Nobel Prize)
Nicolas Baudin : Discoverer of the Western Australian Coastal Route
Jean-Maurice-Émile Baudot : Baudot code 1870, rapid telegraph , around 1874
Étienne-Émile Baulieu : Mifepristone abortion pill

Francis Beaufort .

Francis Beaufort : Beaufort scale

Bernard Forest de Bélidor : Concrete , founder of the mine war

Édouard Bénédictus : Safety glass , 1909

Henri Becquerel : Discovery of Radioactivity (Nobel Prize)

Pierre Berthier : Discoverer of Bauxite , 1821

Alphonse Bertillon : mug shot , Bertillonage

Jean-Baptiste Biot : Physicist and Mathematician - Biot-Savart Law , Optical Activity ; Biotite ; Unit biot

François Blanc : Roulette

André-Eugène Blondel : inventor of the oscilloscope , 1893; Unit Blondel

Léon Bollée : Co-inventor of a calculating machine , 1889

Louis Antoine de Bougainville , navigator

Pierre Bouguer : Heliometer , 1748

Léon Guillaume Bouly : Cinématographe , 1892

Eugène Bourdon : Bourdon spring , 1849
Charles Marie Bouton : Diorama (in collaboration with Louis Daguerre )
Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier , Antarctic voyage in 1738, discovered Bouvet Island

Louis Braille .

Louis Braille : Braille , 1824
Édouard Eugène Branly : Coherer , 1890
Paul Broca : Discoverer of the Broca area in the brain

C.

Hilaire de Chardonnet , 1926

Charles Cagniard de la Tour : Siren
Albert Calmette : oral vaccination against tuberculosis (together with Camille Guérin ), 1921
Ferdinand Carré : Compression refrigeration machine based on ammonia
Alexis Carrel : Medic (Nobel Prize)
Jacques Cartier , explored the Gulf of Saint Lawrence in 1534 and the Saint Lawrence River in 1535

Jean-François Champollion : Deciphering the first hieroglyphs on the Rosetta stone

Coco Chanel : Little Black , 1926

Claude Chappe : Tachygraf (Fast Writer), Optical Telegraphy , Sémaphore

Jean-Antoine Chaptal : chemist / politician, introduction of the metric system ; Method of dry sugaring of wine ( chaptalization )

Hilaire de Chardonnet : Artificial Nitro Silk , 1884

Jacques Alexandre César Charles : "Charlière" hydrogen gas balloon, 1783

Antoine Alphonse Chassepot : Chassepot rifle , 1858/1863

Eugène Chevreul .

Giovanni Domenico Cassini : astronomer who discovered Saturn's moons (1671 Iapetus and Rhea in 1672) and in 1675 the first time the gap in Saturn's rings, which today Cassini division is
Augustin-Louis Cauchy : mathematician, various analysis theorems
Isaac de la Chaumette : breech-loading rifle , (1704, 1720, 1730 or 1751)
Yves Chauvin (chemist) (Nobel Prize)
Eugène Chevreul : chemist, soot-free candles, founder of oleochemistry and the modern theory of colors.
Gilles-Louis Chrétien : Physionotrace , 1786

Georges Claude .

Georges Claude : Neon tube , 1910
Adolphe Clément : Airship , 1910
Claude Cohen-Tannoudji : Physicist (Nobel Prize)
Charles Xavier Thomas de Colmar : mechanical adding machine , 1820
Nicolas-Jacques Conté : Pencil 1795, hydraulic press
Gaspard Gustave de Coriolis : Discovery of the Coriolis Force
Charles Augustin de Coulomb : physicist - founder of electrostatics and magnetostatics ; Coulomb's law , unit Coulomb
André Frédéric Cournand (Nobel Prize) - discoveries about cardiac catheterization and the pathological changes in the circulatory system
Bernard Courtois : Discovery of the chemical element iodine , 1811
Jacques-Yves Cousteau : regulator , Aqualunge 1943, Aquascooter , Nikonos underwater camera (with Émile Gagnan )
Patrick Couvreur : Nanocapsules for cancer drugs
Georges Cuvier : founder of paleontology and made comparative anatomy a research discipline ( Paris academy dispute )
Charles Cros : color photography, telegraphy, phonograph ("paleophone"), 1877 (next to Edison)
Nicholas Cugnot : Steam Car , 1769
Marie Curie and Pierre Curie : Physicists (Nobel Prize)

D.

Louis Daguerre , 1844

Louis Daguerre : Daguerreotype , photograph , 1837/39 (with Charles Marie Bouton)

Georges Darrieus : Darrieus-Rotor (wind turbine), 1927/29

Jacques-Arsène d'Arsonval : hot wire ammeter (D'Arsonval galvanometer), autotransforming oudin coil for generating high voltage (with Paul Marie Oudin )

Jean Dausset : Discovery of genetically determined cellular surface structures that control immunological reactions (together with Baruj Benacerraf and George Davis Snell ) (joint Nobel Prize)

Louis de Broglie : physicist, wave structure of the electron (Nobel Prize)

Jean-Baptiste Delambre : astronomer and geographer, standard meter (together with Pierre Méchain )

René Descartes : universal scholar

François Antoine Henri Descroizilles : chemist, burette

Henri Gustave Delvigne : Delvigne muzzle loading system with powder chamber, around 1838
Charles Derriey : Numbering machine for banknotes from 1839, musical note type system

Firmin Didot : Stereotype 1830, typographic system of measurement (Didot point)

Christian Dior : pencil skirt

Henri Dufaux : bicycle motor 1898, helicopter , 1904

E.

Gustave Eiffel , 1888

Gustave Eiffel : engineer, builder of the Eiffel Tower , designer of the interior framework of the Statue of Liberty in New York and numerous bridges
Auguste Escoffier : cook, inventor of the Helene pear and Melba peach

F.

Henri Fabre : first flight in a seaplane
Pierre de Fermat : Fermatsche's principle
Albert Fert : Physicist (Nobel Prize), discoverer of the GMR effect (together with Peter Grünberg )
Oronce Fine : watchmaker

Léon Foucault .

Léon Foucault : Foucault's pendulum , eddy current , gyroscope , 1852
Henry Fourdrinier : Fourdrinier (Fourdrinier)
Joseph Fourier : mathematician, Fourier optics , Fourier analysis , Fourier number
Benoît Fourneyron : Fourneyron turbine 1826/27
Henri de France : Black and white television system 1947, SECAM color television, 1956
Augustin Jean Fresnel : Fresnel lens , 1820, wave theory of light , 1815
Eugène Freyssinet : Prestressed concrete , 75 patents 1925–1956

G

Émile Gagnan : regulator (together with Jacques-Yves Cousteau )

Évariste Galois : mathematician; Galois theory

André-Jacques Garnerin : modern parachute , 1797

Lucien Gaulard : Transformer for alternating current (with John Dixon Gibbs ), 1881

Pierre-Gilles de Gennes : Physicist (Nobel Prize)

Célestin Gérard : Locomobile 1861, mobile threshing machine , 1866

Henri Giffard : powered airship 1852, injector

Philippe Henri de Girard : pioneer of mechanized flax spinning

Alexander Godefroy , hair dryer

Victor Grignard : Chemist, Grignard Compounds (Nobel Prize)

André Grusenmeyer : Threshing machine around 1888
Camille Guérin : oral vaccination against tuberculosis (together with Albert Calmette ), 1921
Joseph-Ignace Guillotin : Guillotine 1792 (supposedly; with Antoine Louis)
Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac : Uniform thermal expansion of gases (Gay-Lussac law)

H

Paul Héroult : Fused- metal electrolysis ( Hall-Héroult process ) for aluminum production, 1886 (with Charles Martin Hall )

Villard de Honnecourt : Mechanical apparatus, u. a. Inhibition , floating suspension , 1230-35

Jacques-Martin Hotteterre , co-inventor of the oboe

Eugene Houdry : Vehicle catalytic converter 1956

J

François Jacob : (Nobel Prize)

Joseph-Marie Jacquard : Jacquard pattern loom , loom for patterned fabrics, 1805

Louis Joliet : discoverer of the Missouri and Arkansas , map maker of the Mississippi

Irène and Frédéric Joliot-Curie, 1934

Irène Joliot-Curie and Frédéric Joliot-Curie : Chemists (Nobel Prize)
Jean Baptiste Jolly , Dry Dry Cleaning , 1855
Claude François Jouffroy d'Abbans : Steamship 1776

K

Alfred Kastler : Physicist (Nobel Prize)
Yves Klein : International Klein Blue , patent 1956
Arthur Constantin Krebs : submarine, airship, automobile pioneer

L.

René Laënnec

René Laënnec : Stethoscope , 1819
Joseph-Louis Lagrange : founded the analytical mechanics ( Lagrange function ). Further areas of work were the three-body problem of celestial mechanics ( Lagrange points ), the calculus of variations and the theory of complex functions.
Joseph-Louis Lambot : concrete boat , 1848, patent 1855
Paul Langevin : Sonar 1915, echo sounder 1916 (with Constantin Chilowski )
René Lacoste : modern polo shirt
Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck : Botanist and zoologist, founder of modern zoology of invertebrates, coined the term biology
Pierre-Simon Laplace : Black Hole Claim ; Laplace's expansion theorem , the Laplace operator , the Laplace equation and the Laplace transformation
Dominique Jean Larrey : Military doctor, "flying" hospital
Alphonse Laveran : Medic (Nobel Prize). Description and isolation of the malaria pathogen

Antoine Lavoisier

Antoine Laurent de Lavoisier : "Father" of modern chemistry

Nicolas Leblanc : Leblanc process for soda production 1789, patent 1791

Jakob Christoph Le Blon (also Jacques-Christophe Le Blond): three- color print ( blue, yellow, red) 1710, patent 1719 and four-color print (with black), 1732

Georges Leclanché : Dry battery ( Leclanché element ), 1866 or 1886

Gustave Le Gray : negative film , 1850 (with Frederick Scott Archer )

Jean-Marie Lehn : Chemist (Nobel Prize)

Étienne Lenoir : electric ignition for engines 1860, gas engine 1859, gas-powered motorboat , 1866

Louis-Sébastien Lenormand : pioneer of parachuting

Paul Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran : chemist, discovery of the chemical elements gallium (1875), samarium (1879) and dysprosium (1886)

Louis Le Prince : film pioneer who made the first film recordings in history with a film camera in 1888 ( Roundhay Garden Scene ; Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge )

Ferdinand de Lesseps : Entrepreneur, Suez Canal

Paul Lévy : mathematician; Contributions to probability theory

Urbain Le Verrier : calculated the orbit of Neptune 1845/46 Weather map , 1855

Henri Lioret : Phonograph (music sound carrier), 1893

Gabriel Lippmann : physicist, Lippmann method (Nobel Prize)

Auguste and Louis Lumière

Lumière brothers (Auguste Lumière and Louis Lumière) cinematograph 1895, color photograph ( autochrome process ), 1903
André Lwoff : Physician (Nobel Prize)

M.

Louis Malus : Law of Malus , Polarization of Light, 1808
Étienne-Jules Marey : Sphygmograph (pulse registration system), 1859
Edme Mariotte : Shot put pendulum , 1676
Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville : Phonautographs (sound recording), 1857
Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès : Margarine , 1869
Georges Méliès : Stop trick , around 1900
Charles Messier : astronomer, discoverer of several asteroids; Star directory Messier catalog
Pierre Michaux : Pedal crank (pedal drive for bicycles) 1861
Édouard Michelin : Pneumatic tires for bicycles 1889, for cars 1895
Charles Mochet : pedal- and motor-driven micro vehicles and recumbent bikes 1932, Velocar , Velorizontal
Henri Moissan : chemist (Nobel Prize), production of fluorine, discovery of moissanite
Joseph Monier : Moniereisen ( reinforced concrete ) 1849 (patent 1867) (with François Coignet and Joseph Loui )
Jacques Monod : Development of the Operon Model . This describes the structure of prokaryotic genes and explains how their activity is regulated ( gene regulation ) (in collaboration with François Jacob ), Nobel Prize
Luc Montagnier : Discovery of the HI virus (Nobel Prize), 1983

Joseph Michel Montgolfier

Jacques Étienne Montgolfier

Montgolfier brothers , Joseph Michel and Jacques Etienne: Hot air balloon ( Montgolfière ), 1783

Augustin Mouchot : solar collector 1860, solar steam engine (solar motor ) 1866

N

Louis Néel : Physicist (Nobel Prize)
Charles Nicolle : Work on typhus (Nobel Prize)
Joseph Nicéphore Niépce : Heliographie 1824, Photography 1839

O

Étienne Œhmichen : Quadrocopter engineer

P

Denis Papin : pressure cooker 1679, underwater vehicle 1692, steam cylinder 1706, paddle wheel boat 1707
Ambroise Paré : Surgeon, Arterial Ligation , 1552
Blaise Pascal : calculating machine 1642, barometer

Louis Pasteur , 1878

Louis Pasteur : Pasteurization 1862/64, decisive contributions to the prevention of infectious diseases through vaccination , vaccine for avian cholera , veterinary vaccines against anthrax and swine rot

Nicolas-Roland Payen : Delta wing

Pierre-Joseph Pelletier and Joseph Bienaimé Caventou : Isolation of the pigment chlorophyll from plants, the active ingredient strychnine and quinine

Charles-Nicolas Peaucellier : Inversor of Peaucellier , 1864

Dom Pérignon : Champagne ( bottle fermentation ), around 1668 (allegedly)

Jean-Baptiste Perrin : Physicist (Nobel Prize)

Henri de Pitot : Pitot tube 1732
Gaston Planté : Lead accumulator 1859
Henri Poincaré : Physicist, Chaos Theory , 1903
Siméon Denis Poisson , mathematician, Poisson number , Poisson distribution
Jean Léonard Marie Poiseuille : Law of Hagen-Poiseuille
Alphonse Louis Poitevin : rubber printing , pigment printing (carbon printing) 1855 Collotypie ( light pressure , Phototypie) 1856
Charles Gabriel Pravaz : Injection cannula 1841
Joseph Louis Proust : Chemist, Law of Constant Proportions , 1797