Georges Fournier (Jesuit)
Georges Fournier (31 August 1595 – 13 April 1652) was a French Jesuit priest, geographer and mathematician.
Biography
Fournier served as a naval military chaplain on a ship of the line,[1] and acquired a strong knowledge of technical and naval matters.
In 1642, he published the treaty Hydrographie, where he attempted to provide a scientific foundation to the design of ships.[2][3] At the time, results like Couronne or HMS Sovereign of the Seas were obtained by empirical trials and errors.
He also authored a Treaty of fortifications or military architecture, drawn from the most estimated places of our times, for fortifications,[4] whose original edition was published in Paris in 1648 by Jean Hénault at the Salle Dauphine of l'ange gardien. Another edition was published in 1668 in Mayence by Louis Bourgeat.[5]
Georges Fournier taught René Descartes.
Notes and references
- ↑ Notice d'autorité de la Bibliothèque nationale de France.
- ↑ Acessible en ligne sur le site European Cultural Heritage Online
- ↑ Bertrand Gille, Histoire des techniques.
- ↑ Voir bibliographie et traité en ligne sur le site Architectura du Centre d'études supérieures de la Renaissance à Tours.
- ↑ Bibliothèque municipale de Mayence, collection Rara III i 30 ba.
Bibliography
- Georges Fournier, Hydrographie, contenant la théorie et la practique de toutes les parties de la navigation..., Paris, chez Soly, 1643. BNF 304555507
- Bertrand Gille (dir.), Histoire des techniques, Gallimard, coll. « La Pléiade », 1978. ISBN 978-2-07-010881-7