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René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur (; 28 February 1683,
La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. Wi ...
– 17 October 1757, Saint-Julien-du-Terroux) was a French
entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as ara ...
and writer who contributed to many different fields, especially the study of insects. He introduced the Réaumur temperature scale.


Life

Réaumur was born in a prominent La Rochelle family and educated in Paris. He learned philosophy in the Jesuits' college at
Poitiers Poitiers (, , , ; Poitevin: ''Poetàe'') is a city on the River Clain in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and the historical centre of Poitou. In 2017 it had a population of 88,291. Its agglome ...
, and in 1699 went to Bourges to study civil law and
mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
under the charge of an uncle, canon of La Sainte-Chapelle. In 1703 he went to
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
, where he continued the study of
mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
and
physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which ...
. In 1708, at the age of 24, he was nominated by
Pierre Varignon Pierre Varignon (1654 – 23 December 1722) was a French mathematician. He was educated at the Jesuit College and the University of Caen, where he received his M.A. in 1682. He took Holy Orders the following year. Varignon gained his first ...
(who taught him mathematics) and elected a member of the
Académie des Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at ...
.Egerton, F. N. 2006
A History of the Ecological Sciences, Part 21: Réaumur and His History of Insects
Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 87(3):212–224.
From this time onwards for nearly half a century hardly a year passed in which the ''Mémoires de l'Académie'' did not contain at least one paper by Réaumur. At first, his attention was occupied by mathematical studies, especially in
geometry Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is c ...
. In 1710, he was named the chief editor of the ''
Descriptions of the Arts and Trades Description is the pattern of narrative development that aims to make vivid a place, object, character, or group. Description is one of four rhetorical modes (also known as ''modes of discourse''), along with exposition, argumentation, and nar ...
'', a major government project which resulted in the establishment of manufactures new to France and the revival of neglected industries. For discoveries regarding iron and steel he was awarded a pension of 12,000
livres The (; ; abbreviation: ₶.) was one of numerous currencies used in medieval France, and a unit of account (i.e., a monetary unit used in accounting) used in Early Modern France. The 1262 monetary reform established the as 20 , or 80.88 g ...
. Content with his ample private income, he requested that the money should go to the Académie des Sciences for the furtherance of experiments on improved industrial processes. In 1731 he became interested in
meteorology Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did no ...
, and invented the
thermometer A thermometer is a device that measures temperature or a temperature gradient (the degree of hotness or coldness of an object). A thermometer has two important elements: (1) a temperature sensor (e.g. the bulb of a mercury-in-glass thermometer ...
scale which bears his name: the Réaumur. In 1735, for family reasons, he accepted the post of commander and
intendant An intendant (; pt, intendente ; es, intendente ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In ...
of the royal and military
Order of Saint Louis The Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis (french: Ordre Royal et Militaire de Saint-Louis) is a dynastic order of chivalry founded 5 April 1693 by King Louis XIV, named after Saint Louis (King Louis IX of France). It was intended as a re ...
. He discharged his duties with scrupulous attention, but refused the pay. He took great delight in the systematic study of natural history. His friends often called him "the Pliny of the 18th century". He loved retirement and lived at his country residences, including his chateau La Bermondière, Saint-Julien-du-Terroux, Maine, where he had a serious fall from a horse, which led to his death. He bequeathed his manuscripts, which filled 138 portfolios, and his natural history collections to the Académie des Sciences. Réaumur's scientific papers deal with many branches of science. His first, in 1708, was on a general problem in geometry. His last, in 1756, on the forms of birds' nests. He proved experimentally the fact that the strength of a
rope A rope is a group of yarns, plies, fibres, or strands that are twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have tensile strength and so can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger than similarl ...
is more than the sum of the strengths of its separate strands. He examined and reported on the auriferous (gold-bearing) rivers, the turquoise mines, the forests and the
fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
beds of France. He devised the method of tinning iron that is still employed, and investigated the differences between iron and steel, correctly showing that the amount of
carbon Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—its atom making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. It belongs to group 14 of the periodic table. Carbon ma ...
is greatest in
cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuri ...
, less in steel, and least in
wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a wood-like "grain" ...
. His book on this subject (1722) was translated into English and German. He was noted for a
thermometer A thermometer is a device that measures temperature or a temperature gradient (the degree of hotness or coldness of an object). A thermometer has two important elements: (1) a temperature sensor (e.g. the bulb of a mercury-in-glass thermometer ...
he constructed on the principle of taking the freezing point of water as 0°, and graduating the tube into degrees each of which was one-thousandth of the volume contained by the bulb and tube up to the zero mark. It was an accident dependent on the particular alcohol employed which made the boiling-point of water 108°; mercurial thermometers graduated into 80 equal parts between the freezing- and boiling-points of water are named Réaumur thermometers but diverge from his design and intention. Réaumur wrote much on natural history. Early in life he described the locomotor system of the
Echinodermata An echinoderm () is any member of the phylum Echinodermata (). The adults are recognisable by their (usually five-point) radial symmetry, and include starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers, as well as the s ...
, and showed that the supposed ability of replacing their lost limbs was actually true. He has been considered as a founder of
ethology Ethology is the scientific study of animal behaviour, usually with a focus on behaviour under natural conditions, and viewing behaviour as an evolutionarily adaptive trait. Behaviourism as a term also describes the scientific and objecti ...
. In 1710 he wrote a paper on the possibility of spiders being used to produce silk, which was so celebrated at the time that the
Kangxi Emperor The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 1654– 20 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, born Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1661 to ...
of China had it translated into Chinese. His observations of wasps making paper from wood fibres have led some to credit him with this change in paper-making techniques. It was over a century before wood pulp was used on any industrial scale in paper making. He studied the relationship between the growth of insects and temperature. He also computed the rate of growth of insect populations and noted that there must be natural checks since the theoretical population numbers achieveable by geometric progression were not matched by observations of actual populations. He also studied botanical and agricultural matters, and devised processes for preserving birds and eggs. He elaborated a system of artificial incubation, and made important observations on the digestion of carnivorous and graminivorous (grass-eating) birds. One of his greatest works is the ''Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire des insectes'', 6 vols., with 267 plates (Amsterdam, 1734–42). It describes the appearance, habits and locality of all the known insects except the beetles, and is a marvel of patient and accurate observation. Among other important facts stated in this work are the experiments which enabled Réaumur to prove the correctness of Peyssonel's hypothesis, that
coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and se ...
s are animals and not plants. He was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemati ...
in November 1738 by virtue of the fact that ''"His Name hath been known for many years among the Learned by Several Curious disertations published in the Memoirs of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris & in particular by a very Learned and usefull book wrote in French entitled 'The Art of Converting Forged Iron into Steel' and 'the Art of Soft'ning Cast Iron' printed at Paris 1722 4to and lately by his 'Curious Memoires relating to the History of Insects' at Paris in 4to three Volumes of which work have been Laid before the Royal Society"''. He was elected a foreign member of the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for prom ...
in 1748. He is commemorated in numerous place names including the rue Réaumur and the Réaumur - Sébastopol metro station in Paris and the Place Réaumur, Le Havre.


Selected works

* Réaumur, R.-A. F. de. 1722. L'art de convertir le fer forgé en acier, et l'art d'adoucir le fer fondu, ou de faire des ouvrages de fer fondu aussi finis que le fer forgé. Paris, France. * Réaumur, R.-A. F. de. 1734–1742. Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire des insectes. Six volumes. Académie Royale des Sciences, Paris, France. * Réaumur, R.-A. F. de. 1749. Art de faire éclorre et d'élever en tout saison des oiseaux Domestiques de toutes espèces. Two volumes. Imprimerie royale, Paris, France. * Réaumur, R.-A. F. de. 1750. The art of hatching and bringing up domestic fowls. London, UK. * Réaumur, R.-A. F. de. 1800. Short history of bees I. The natural history of bees . . . Printed for Vernor and Hood in the Poultry, by J. Cundee, London, UK. * Réaumur, R.-A. F. de. 1926. The natural history of ants, from an unpublished manuscript. W. M. Wheeler, editor and translator. ncludes French text.Knopf, New York City, USA. Reprinted 1977. Arno Press, New York City, USA. * Réaumur, R.-A. F. de. 1939. Morceaux choisis. Jean Torlais, editor. Gallimard, Paris, France. * Réaumur, R.-A. F. de. 1955. Histoire des scarabées. M. Caullery, introduction. Volume 11 of Encyclopédie Entomologique. Paul Lechevalier, Paris, France. * Réaumur, R.-A. F. de. 1956. Memoirs on steel and iron. A. G. Sisco, translator. C. S. Smith, introduction and notes. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, USA.


Publications

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Notes


References

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External links

*
Digitalies text of ''Mémoires pour servir a l'histoire des insectes''Website of the Manoir Des Sciences at Reaumur Gaedike, R.; Groll, E. K. & Taeger, A. 2012: Bibliography of the entomological literature from the beginning until 1863 : online database – version 1.0 – Senckenberg Deutsches Entomologisches Institut.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reaumur, Rene Antoine Ferchault De 1683 births 1757 deaths 18th-century French writers 18th-century French male writers Fellows of the Royal Society French entomologists Creators of temperature scales French Roman Catholics Members of the French Academy of Sciences Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Order of Saint Louis recipients People from La Rochelle