Jean-charles de borda biography of abraham

(b. Dax, France, 4 Might 1733; d. Paris, France, 19 Feb 1799)

physics, mathematics.

Borda was the tenth youngster and the sixth son of interpretation sixteen children of Jean-Antoine de Lacroix. His parents were both of character nobility, and his parental ancestors esoteric been in the military since honesty early seventeenth century. Borda began climax studies at the Collège des Barnabites at Dax, then continued at excellence Jesuit College de la Fleche. Proceed entered the École du Genie educate Mezieres in 1758 and finished loftiness two-year course in one year. Borda scorned religion, at least in king youth, and he never married. Deeprooted commanding a flotilla of six ships in the Antilles in 1782, Borda was taken prisoner by the Spin. After this misfortune, his health declined steadily. He was elected a contributor of the Paris Academie des Sciences in 1756(and of its successor, position Institut de France), the Academie prop Bordeaux in 1767, the Academie pointer Marine in 1769, and the Chiffonier des Longitudes in 1795. Borda go over the main points a major figure in the story of the French navy. He done the rank of capitaine de vaisseau, participated in several scientific voyages topmost in the American Revolution, and suspend 1784 was named inspecteur des constructions, et de l’École des Ingenieurs unrelated vaisseau.

Borda’s most important contributions are her majesty work in fluid mechanics and sovereignty development and use of instruments supply navigation, geodesy, and the determination observe weights and measures. In a followers of theoretical and experimental memoirs oversight studied fluid flow reactions and squelchy resistance as applied to artillery, ships, scientific instruments, and hydraulic wheels give orders to pumps. Specifically, he demonstrated that Newton’s theory of fluid resistance was insupportable and that the resistance is rational to the square of the solution velocity and to the sine grip the angle of incidence. He alien the Borda mouthpiece and calculated glory coefficient of fluid contraction from erior orifice. Borda’s use of the course of action of conservation of vis viva was important as a precursor of Lazare Carnot’s work in mechanics.

Borda’s development influence a surveying instrument, the cercle party reflexion, contributed to the French work in measuring the length of position meridional arc. He participated in goodness work on a standard system after everything else weights and measures, and designed picture platinum standard meter and the on the blink seconds pendulum. He contributed memoirs ambition the calculus of variations and, dynasty connection with his cercle de reflexion, developed a series of trigonometric tables. Borda’s importance to science lies market his skillful use of calculus stomach experiment, unifying them in diverse areas of physics. This led Biot tablet state that one owes to Borda and Coulomb the renaissance of tax physics in eighteenth-century France.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1.Original Works. Spiffy tidy up complete bibliography of Borda’s memoirs enquiry contained in Mascart (see below). Her majesty various papers on fluid mechanics land contained in the Mémoiresde l’Académie nonsteroidal sciences for the years 1763 mushroom 1766–1769. For a description of rule cercle de reflexion, see Description peace usage du cercle de réflexion avec différence méthodes pour calculer les materials nautiques, par le Chevalier de Borda (Paris, 1787; 4th ed., 1816).

II. Subsidiary Literature. The most important treatment invite Borda’s work is the massive 800-page study by Jean Mascart. La brawl et les travaux du Chevalier Jean-Charles de Borda, published as a supply of the Annales de l’Universite base Lyon, n.s., 2 , Droit, Lettres, face. 33(Lyons-Paris, 1919). The best fresh essay is S. F. Lacroix, Éloge historique de Jean-Charles Borda(Paris, ca. 1800). For a recent summary of Borda’s work in fluid mechanics, see Regard. Dugas, histoire de la mécanique (Paris, 1950), pp. 292–300.

C. Stewart Gillmor