François Jacquier facts for kids
François Jacquier (born June 7, 1711, in Vitry-le-François, France – died July 3, 1788, in Rome, Italy) was a smart French man. He was a Franciscan friar, which means he belonged to a religious order. He was also a very important mathematician and physicist. He helped people understand science better during his time.
Life Story
François Jacquier showed he was very smart from a young age. A church leader taught him and saw that he loved science and math. When he was 16, François joined the Order of Friars Minor, a group of Franciscan friars.
After joining, he was sent to Rome to continue his studies. He went to the French convent called Trinità dei Monti. With permission from his leaders, he focused on math. He also learned old languages like Hebrew and Greek. He became so good at Greek that he spoke it like it was his first language!
His amazing knowledge helped him get support from important people like Cardinal Alberoni and Cardinal Portocarrero. He even traveled with Cardinal Alberoni to Ravenna. There, he helped check on a project to stop floods in that area.
When he returned to Rome, he became a professor. He taught about the Bible at the College of the Propaganda. He was also asked to help write the history of the Franciscan order.
In 1745, the King of Sardinia offered him a job. He became a physics professor at the University of Turin. But then, Cardinal Valenti, who was like the prime minister for Pope Benedict XIV, asked him to teach in Rome instead. So, François Jacquier became a professor of experimental physics at the Roman College. People often asked him for advice on scientific problems.
Later, in 1763, he became a teacher for a young prince. He taught physics and math to Prince Ferdinand in Parma. In 1773, he returned to the Roman College. He took over as the math professor after the Jesuits were no longer teaching there.
By the time he died, François Jacquier was connected to almost all the big science and literature groups in Europe. He had even become a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1741, which is a very respected science group.
His Works
François Jacquier wrote several important books and papers. Here are some of his most famous works:
- Isaaci Newtoni philosophiæ naturalis principia mathematica, perpetuis commentariis illustrata (published between 1739 and 1742): This was a huge project he worked on with P. Lesuer. It was a detailed explanation of Isaac Newton's famous book on physics and math.
- Elementi di perspectiva secondo I principi di Taylor (1745): This book was about perspective, which is how you draw or show objects on a flat surface so they look like they have depth.
- Institutiones Philosophicæ ad studia theologica potissimum accommodata (1757): This book was about philosophy, written to help people studying theology (the study of religious faith). It was so popular that it was printed many times and even translated into Spanish.
- Eléments du calcul intégral (1768): This book was about integral calculus, a branch of math used to find areas, volumes, and other things. It was considered a very complete and important work for its time.
See also
In Spanish: François Jacquier para niños
