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biology
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and the Evolution

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and the Evolution

Harald Sack
On August 1, 1744, French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck was born. Lamarck was an early proponent of the idea that evolution occurred and proceeded in accordance with natural laws. He gave the term biology a broader meaning by coining the term for special sciences, chemistry, meteorology, geology, and botany-zoology. “Do we not therefore perceive that by the action of the laws of organization . . . nature has in favorable times, places, and climates multiplied…
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history
Eugene Vidocq – The Father of Criminology

Eugene Vidocq – The Father of Criminology

Harald Sack
During the night of 23 to 24 July 1775, French criminal and criminalist Eugène Vidocq was born. Vidocq is considered the world’s first private detective and father of modern criminology. His life story inspired several writers, including Victor Hugo and Honoré de Balzac. “I thought I could have remained an informer forever, so far from the thought of suspecting that I was a police agent. Even the door closers and the guards had…
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psychology
Alfred Binet – How to Test Intelligence?

Alfred Binet – How to Test Intelligence?

Tabea Tietz
On July 8, 1857, French psychologist Alfred Binet was born. He was a pioneer in the field of intelligence testing of the normal mind. He took a different approach than most psychologists of his day: he was interested in the workings of the normal mind. He invented the first practical intelligence test, the Binet-Simon scale rather than the pathology of mental illness. “Since we seek to know what is the physical phenomenon we perceive,…
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literature
The Scandalous Love Affairs of George Sand

The Scandalous Love Affairs of George Sand

Harald Sack
On July 1, 1804, French novelist and memoirist Amantine-Lucile-Aurore Dupi better known under her pseudonym George Sand was born. She was one of the most successful female writers of the nineteenth century, but equally well known for her much publicized romantic affairs with a number of artists, including the composer and pianist Frédéric Chopin and the writer Alfred de Musset. “I have an object, a task, let me say the word, a…
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physics
Charles Augustin de Coulomb and the Electrostatic Force

Charles Augustin de Coulomb and the Electrostatic Force

Tabea Tietz
On June 14, 1736, French physicist Charles Augustin de Coulomb was born. He is best known for developing Coulomb’s law, the definition of the electrostatic force of attraction and repulsion, but also did important work on friction. The SI unit of electric charge, the coulomb, was named after him. Charles Augustin de Coulomb – Early Years Charles Augustin de Coulomb received a good education in mathematics, astronomy, chemistry and botany since both sides of…
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politics
Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans

Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans

Tabea Tietz
On May 30, 1431, Joan of Arc aka the Maid of Orleans was burned at the stake. Joan of Arc is considered a heroine of France for her role during the Lancastrian phase of the Hundred Years’ War, and was canonized as a Roman Catholic saint. “I was thirteen when I had a Voice from God for my help and guidance.” – Joan of Arc, Trial records (1431) Joan of Arc – A…
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history
Joseph-Ignace Guillotin’s Opposition to the Death Penalty

Joseph-Ignace Guillotin’s Opposition to the Death Penalty

Tabea Tietz
On May 28, 1738, French physician Joseph-Ignace Guillotin was born. Guillotin is best known for his proposition of the use of a device to carry out death penalties in France, as a less painful method of execution. While he did not invent the guillotine, and in fact opposed the death penalty, his name became an eponym for it. The actual inventor of the prototype was Antoine Louis. “The guillotine is a machine…
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mathematics
Abraham de Moivre and the Doctrine of Chances

Abraham de Moivre and the Doctrine of Chances

Harald Sack
On May 26, 1667, French mathematician Abraham de Moivre was born. De Moivre is best known for de Moivre‘s formula, one of those that link complex numbers and trigonometry, and for his work on the normal distribution and probability theory. He was a friend of Isaac Newton, Edmond Halley, and James Stirling. De Moivre wrote a book on probability theory, The Doctrine of Chances, said to have been prized by gamblers. He…
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war/crime
Alphonse Bertillon’s Anthropometric Identification System

Alphonse Bertillon’s Anthropometric Identification System

Tabea Tietz
On April 23,1853, French police officer and biometrics researcher Alphonse Bertillon was born. Bertillon was the first who applied the anthropological technique of anthropometry to law enforcement creating an identification system based on physical measurements. Anthropometry was the first scientific system used by police to identify criminals. Before that time, criminals could only be identified by name or photograph. The method was eventually supplanted by fingerprinting. Born in a Family of Scientists…
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medical science
Philippe Pinel – the Father of modern Psychiatry

Philippe Pinel – the Father of modern Psychiatry

Tabea Tietz
On April 20, 1745, French physician Philippe Pinel was born. He was instrumental in the development of a more humane psychological approach to the custody and care of psychiatric patients, referred to today as moral therapy. He also made notable contributions to the classification of mental disorders and has been described by some as “the father of modern psychiatry“. “I cannot here avoid giving my most decided sufferage in favour of the moral qualities…
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