Mathematician:Pierre Bouguer

Mathematician

French mathematician, geophysicist, geodesist and astronomer.

The first known discoverer of what is now generally known as the Beer-Lambert-Bouguer Law.

Measured the acceleration of free-fall using a pendulum.

Was the first to notice that the period of a pendulum could be affected by the gravitational force exerted by a high mountain.

Nationality

French

History

• Born: 16 February 1698 in Le Croisic in lower Brittany
• Died: 15 August 1758 in Paris

Theorems and Definitions

• The Beer-Lambert-Bouguer Law, also known as the Lambert-Beer Law, Beer's Law, the Beer-Lambert Law or Lambert's Law (with August Beer and Johann Heinrich Lambert)

Results named for Pierre Bouguer can be found here.

Publications

• 1727: On the masting of ships
• 1727: On the best method of observing the altitude of stars at sea
• 1727: On the best method of observing the variation of the compass at sea
• 1729: Essai d'optique sur la gradation de la lumière
• 1746: Traité du navire
• 1749: La figure de la terre: déterminée par les observations de messieurs

Sources

• 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Bouguer, Pierre (1698-1758)
• 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Bouguer, Pierre (1698-1758)