Denis Papin (1647-1712)

No record of the history of the Royal Society would be complete without some reference to the work done for it by Denis Papin. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society for more than thirty years and a curator of experiments for four years. During this time he read over one hundred papers to the Society and showed numerous experiments in illustration of these. This year is the tercentenary of his birth, for he was born on 22 August 1647 at Blois. It is understood that a celebration of this event is to take place at his native town in the coming summer and that a commemorative volume of his life and work is to be published. His name has been given to the principal street in Blois and a bronze statue commemorates his achievements. Papin was educated at the University of Angers and it was here that he took a medical degree in 1669. He did not, however, intend to practise medicine as he was much more interested in natural philosophy and mechanics. He was of an inventive mind and although many of his ideas were ingenious, only a few proved to be of much practical use. His first post was as an assistant to Huygens in his laboratory at the Academie des Sciences in Paris where he carried out many experiments with the air-pump. He published the results in a book printed in Paris in 1674 entitled Expériences du Vuide and in a series of five papers with Huygens communicated to the Royal Society and published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1675

Art history · Sociology · Statue · Classics · Historical Philosophy and Science · History

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