MacTutor
JEAN-BAPTISTE BIOT (born April 21, 1774, died Feb. 3, 1862) is the last of the great men of science who belonged to what he himself jocosely called the first edition of the French Revolution. To give any account of his labours on such an occasion as the present would be inadmissible: several of them are too well known, the others are too numerous. We shall therefore allude to but few of the 477 heads under which his writings have been enumerated by M. Lefort, the son of his daughter's daughter, who declares himself certain that the list is far from complete.
The father of J. B. Biot, whose ancestors had been farmers in Lorraine, was himself in some office of the Treasury. The son, after studying at the Collège Louis-le-Grand, joined the army as a volunteer and was present at the Battle of Hond-Schoote in 1793. He then retired from military life and became a student at the Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées and at the Polytechnic School. In 1797 he was named Professor of Mathematics at the Central School of the Department of the Oise. He introduced himself to notice by some mathematical papers and became known to Laplace. In 1800 he was removed to Paris as Professor of Mathematical Physics at the Collège de France and Associate of the Institute At his death he was a member of three of the four French Academies, a distinction which few, if any, ever gained before him. In 1806 he commenced, in concert with Arago, his continuation of the arc of the meridian. In 1808 he measured the length of the pendulum at Bordeaux. In 1817 he repeated this operation in Scotland and the Shetland Islands. In 1818 he was employed at Dunkirk, in concert with an English Commission, on the determination of latitude. In 1824 and 1825 he was employed in Illyria, etc., on the measurement of the pendulum at different points on the mean parallel of latitude, and also at the extremity of the Spanish arc. These were the points at which a long life passed in physical investigation was most connected with astronomy. It is not necessary to speak in detail of the publications connected with the Great Survey. His work, entitled Traité Elémentaire d'Astronomie Physique, of which three editions were published (1805, 1810-11, 1841-57) was more than its name imports, being a mathematical system in which the mathematical part is subordinated to a very extensive treatise on astronomy strictly physical: it is, in fact, what was left undone in the closely mathematical system of Délambre.
It is not our business to do more than refer to the extensive writings of Biot on optics and physics in general. All of middle age who were students of these subjects will remember that Biot was the originator of those encyclopedic works on experimental science which continue to appear from time to time. Four valuable volumes, the Traité de Physique, appeared in 1816; followed, in 1817, by the Précis Elémentaire, in two volumes. The reader of these volumes remembers how frequently Biot had to refer to his own experiments, and how completely he was made to feel that his instructor had traveled over all the ground, either by experiments of his own making or actual and personal cognizance of those made by others. In these, as in all his other publications, there is continuous evidence of the presence of the mathematician who has all the powers of geometry in reserve, but is prevented, both by a natural turn for the experimental and by the mature habits of an old teacher, from introducing more than will just serve the purpose.
Biot must be numbered among the historians of science. Not that he ever wrote a work professedly on history, but because his writings on historical points form a large mass, involving much research and much valuable criticism. He was engaged in ancient Egyptian and Oriental astronomy during most of the second half of his life. In particular, we may refer to his "Recherches sur l'Année vague des Egyptiens," read before the Academy of Sciences in 1831, where he shows, from the hieroglyphics in the Rhamesseum at Thebes, that the point of the vernal equinox was in the constellation Taurus during the reign of Rhameses III. He was editor of the Journal des Savans in 1816 and remained a contributor to the end of his life In it, or in the Moniteur Universel, he wrote about 120 articles, many relating to the history of the past, and all of the critical cast. Thus we have, from 1816 to 1862, a succession of descriptive accounts, involving history or criticism from one mind. To this must be added 23 biographies in the Biographie Universelle, many of which are cited as separate works, and many short articles scattered elsewhere.
An account of Biot's opinions, as involved in his accounts of others, would lead to discussions involving matters of controversy. The style in which he treats his subjects is eminently attractive. In his didactic writings he is diffuse, and his own peculiar spirit is undiscernible through his explanations. In his critical writings he has a strong and distinct character, marked by satire powerfully applied, but without ill-nature. In his private life he gained the respect of all. He was the Nestor of the Institute for many years. He was the subject of Louis XV for three weeks and lived nearly ten years under Louis Napoleon. Of this long life, sixty-five years were passed in public posts.
The father of J. B. Biot, whose ancestors had been farmers in Lorraine, was himself in some office of the Treasury. The son, after studying at the Collège Louis-le-Grand, joined the army as a volunteer and was present at the Battle of Hond-Schoote in 1793. He then retired from military life and became a student at the Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées and at the Polytechnic School. In 1797 he was named Professor of Mathematics at the Central School of the Department of the Oise. He introduced himself to notice by some mathematical papers and became known to Laplace. In 1800 he was removed to Paris as Professor of Mathematical Physics at the Collège de France and Associate of the Institute At his death he was a member of three of the four French Academies, a distinction which few, if any, ever gained before him. In 1806 he commenced, in concert with Arago, his continuation of the arc of the meridian. In 1808 he measured the length of the pendulum at Bordeaux. In 1817 he repeated this operation in Scotland and the Shetland Islands. In 1818 he was employed at Dunkirk, in concert with an English Commission, on the determination of latitude. In 1824 and 1825 he was employed in Illyria, etc., on the measurement of the pendulum at different points on the mean parallel of latitude, and also at the extremity of the Spanish arc. These were the points at which a long life passed in physical investigation was most connected with astronomy. It is not necessary to speak in detail of the publications connected with the Great Survey. His work, entitled Traité Elémentaire d'Astronomie Physique, of which three editions were published (1805, 1810-11, 1841-57) was more than its name imports, being a mathematical system in which the mathematical part is subordinated to a very extensive treatise on astronomy strictly physical: it is, in fact, what was left undone in the closely mathematical system of Délambre.
It is not our business to do more than refer to the extensive writings of Biot on optics and physics in general. All of middle age who were students of these subjects will remember that Biot was the originator of those encyclopedic works on experimental science which continue to appear from time to time. Four valuable volumes, the Traité de Physique, appeared in 1816; followed, in 1817, by the Précis Elémentaire, in two volumes. The reader of these volumes remembers how frequently Biot had to refer to his own experiments, and how completely he was made to feel that his instructor had traveled over all the ground, either by experiments of his own making or actual and personal cognizance of those made by others. In these, as in all his other publications, there is continuous evidence of the presence of the mathematician who has all the powers of geometry in reserve, but is prevented, both by a natural turn for the experimental and by the mature habits of an old teacher, from introducing more than will just serve the purpose.
Biot must be numbered among the historians of science. Not that he ever wrote a work professedly on history, but because his writings on historical points form a large mass, involving much research and much valuable criticism. He was engaged in ancient Egyptian and Oriental astronomy during most of the second half of his life. In particular, we may refer to his "Recherches sur l'Année vague des Egyptiens," read before the Academy of Sciences in 1831, where he shows, from the hieroglyphics in the Rhamesseum at Thebes, that the point of the vernal equinox was in the constellation Taurus during the reign of Rhameses III. He was editor of the Journal des Savans in 1816 and remained a contributor to the end of his life In it, or in the Moniteur Universel, he wrote about 120 articles, many relating to the history of the past, and all of the critical cast. Thus we have, from 1816 to 1862, a succession of descriptive accounts, involving history or criticism from one mind. To this must be added 23 biographies in the Biographie Universelle, many of which are cited as separate works, and many short articles scattered elsewhere.
An account of Biot's opinions, as involved in his accounts of others, would lead to discussions involving matters of controversy. The style in which he treats his subjects is eminently attractive. In his didactic writings he is diffuse, and his own peculiar spirit is undiscernible through his explanations. In his critical writings he has a strong and distinct character, marked by satire powerfully applied, but without ill-nature. In his private life he gained the respect of all. He was the Nestor of the Institute for many years. He was the subject of Louis XV for three weeks and lived nearly ten years under Louis Napoleon. Of this long life, sixty-five years were passed in public posts.
Jean-Baptiste Biot's obituary appeared in Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society 23:4 (1863), 130-132.