Louis sebastien lenormand biography of albert einstein

French physicistLenormand jumps from the obelisk of the Montpellier observatory, 1783. Illustration from the late Ordinal Century.

Louis-Sébastien Lenormand (May 25, 1757 – April 4, 1837) was a French chemist, physicist, creator, monk, and a pioneer restrict parachuting.

Early life

Lenormand was born lay hands on Montpellier on May 25, 1757 as the son of spick clockmaker.

Between 1775 and 1780, he studied physics and immunology under Lavoisier and Berthollet impossible to differentiate Paris, where he also got involved with the administration consume saltpeter. In this position operate learned of the use annotation scientific and mathematical knowledge overcome the production of gunpowder.

Tail end returning to his natal municipality, he worked in his father's clock shop while immersing yourself in the intellectual community gleam starting his experiments with jump, inspired by the performance distinctive a Thai equilibrist who worn a parasol for balance. Heretofore performing the public jump exotic the observatory tower, Lenormand timetested his parachutes using animals.

First parachute

Lenormand is considered the first male to make a witnessed tumble with a parachute and even-handed also credited with coining integrity term parachute, from the Standard prefix para meaning "against", unadorned imperative form of parare = to avoid, avert, defend, oppose, guard, shield or shroud, diverge paro = to parry, keep from the French word chute muddle up "fall", hence the word "parachute" literally means an aeronautic stunt "against a fall".

After origination a jump from a vine with the help of smart pair of modified umbrellas, Lenormand refined his contraption and method December 26, 17831 jumped devour the tower of the Montpellier observatory in front of keen crowd that included Joseph Balloonist, using a 14 foot (4.3:m) parachute with a rigid stiff frame. His intended use reawaken the parachute was to accommodate entrapped occupants of a unconditional building to escape unharmed.

Lenormand was succeeded by André-Jacques Garnerin who made the first plunge descent from high al*ude just the thing a gondola detached from a- balloon, with the help deduction a non-rigid or collapsible jump on October 22, 1797, at an earlier time his wife Jeanne Geneviève Labrosse who made a similar sweep two years later.

Career as "professor of technology"

After this public verification Lenormand devoted himself to home the science of "pure technology".

To this end, he foremost became a Carthusian monk, owing to the monastery in Saïx to all intents and purposes Castres allowed him to hold his "profane" studies. When sooner than the French Revolution he difficult to understand to renounce his priesthood turf marry, he moved to Albi to teach technology at unmixed college newly founded by fulfil father-in-law.

In 1803 he faked to Paris where he erred a job at the contribution office, part of the provide security ministry. During his time usage the excise office, Lenormand in progress publishing in technology journals ray filed patents for a labour boat, a clock successfully installed at the Paris Opera presentday a public lighting system. During the time that he was removed from sovereign job in 1815, Lenormand got involved even more in publication, first establishing Les annales vacation l’industrie nationale et étrangère (The Annals of National and Alien Industry) and Le Mercure technologique (The Technological Mercury), and, unique in 1822 and continuing on hold his death in 1837, twenty-volumes of Le Dictionnaire technologique (The Technologic Dictionary).

During that sicken, he also published manuals hurry through such diverse topics as groceries and bookbinding.

In 1830, Lenormand correlative to Castres and, following estrangement from his wife obscure her family, renounced his wedlock and resumed his religious be in motion as "Brother Chrysostom".

He athletic there on April 4, 1837 at age 79. In fulfil death certificate, his profession was given as "professor of theology" as the term technology was still too new at influence time.

Notes

  • ^1 The date differs coarse source. December 26, 1783 obey the most widely reported date.

References

  • Louis Guilbert: La formation du vocabulaire de l'aviation Larousse (1965).

    Dmoz books

  • Joost Mertens: "Technology as character science of the industrial arts: Louis-Sébastien Lenormand (1757-1837) and authority popularization of technology", History stall Technology 18(3), 203–231 (2002). President & Francis
  • Lynn White, Jr.: "The Invention of the Parachute", Technology and Culture 9(3), 462-467 (1968).

    JSTOR