Biography

 

Admitted to the École polytechnique in 1821, he was expelled in 1822 for political reasons.He then continued his studies at the École des Mines and carried out study trips to Germany and England, to find out all he could about railways.In 1823, he published an article on grooved tracks, the first French work on railways.He then joined the engineering team working on the planning and construction of the railway from Paris (gare Saint-Lazare) to Saint-Germain-en-Laye.In 1830, he succeeded in rejoining the Ponts et Chaussées corps.At around the same time, the Central School of Arts and Manufacture was founded, for the training of civil engineers in four branches:mechanics, construction, chemistry and metallurgy.There, he started the first class in France on railway construction and equipment.At the same time, he founded and headed the Association Polytechnique, to extend education to the working classes.He also became Director of equipment for the railway along the left bank from Paris to Versailles and, between 1840 and 1842, published with Polonceau the Engineer’s Railway Portfolio, then in 1854, the Elementary Treatise on Railways, which might have been better named “fundamental” than “elementary”, followed four years later by a new, better illustrated edition including numerous economic considerations.As a result of this activity, he was appointed administrator of the East France and West Switzerland railways, President of the Society of Civil Engineers of France, and Director of the Central School in 1862… However, he was always extremely open to young scientists and engineers, ready to support any new idea that might prove useful.In 1868, a street in the 10th arrondissement was named after him by the City of Paris, and his name is amongst the seventy-two 19th-century scientists inscribed on the great exterior frieze on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower.  

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