Antoine Deparcieux

October 28, 1703 (age 64)

Clotet-de-Cessous, France

In 1730, after finishing his studies, Deparcieux went to Paris, where he became a maker of sundials. He also investigated problems of hydraulics and conceived a plan for bringing the water of the Yvette River to Paris, which was carried out after his death. In 1741 Deparcieux published Nouveaux traités de trigonométrie rectiligne et sphérique, which consisted of tables of sins, tans, secs (calculated to seven decimal places), and log sins and log tans (calculated to eight decimal places). This work also contains interesting trigonometric formulae for tan a/2. In 1746 Deparcieux published a treatise on annuities and mortality: it was one of the first statistical work of its kind and is the main reason for his fame. Deparcieux's interest in mortality tables resulted from his interest in life expectancy which he had investigated in several different contexts. Lorenzo de Tonti from Naples was a financier who had devised the tontine life insurance plan in the seventeenth century. Those taking part in the plan contributed money which eventually went to the one who survives all the others. Deparcieux studied the way that such plans worked, and he also studied life expectancy in individual families and religious communities. The reason for choosing data such groups was that Deparcieux was fully aware that if one looked at births and deaths in a city (as had been done before), then migration made the data unreliable. The results of Deparcieux's investigations were published in the 1746 treatise Essai sur les probabilités de la durée de la vie humaine. Deparcieux was, as we have indicated above, interested in hydrodynamics. He devised a way of bringing the water of the river Yvette to Paris and, although he did not see his plan put into being during his lifetime, it was carried out after his death.

Antoine Deparcieux

Edit Profile

mathematician scientist

Background

Antoine Deparcieux was born on October 28, 1703, in Clotet-de-Cessous, France. His father, Jean-Antoine, was a farmer; his mother was Jeanne Donzel.

Education

Deparcieux attended the school of Saint Florent for 10 years while working on his family farm. Orphaned in 1715, he was educated by his brother Pierre, who sent him at fifteen to the Jesuit college at Alès.

Career

In 1730, after finishing his studies, Deparcieux went to Paris, where he became a maker of sundials. He also investigated problems of hydraulics and conceived a plan for bringing the water of the Yvette River to Paris, which was carried out after his death.

In 1741 Deparcieux published Nouveaux traités de trigonométrie rectiligne et sphérique, which consisted of tables of sins, tans, secs (calculated to seven decimal places), and log sins and log tans (calculated to eight decimal places). This work also contains interesting trigonometric formulae for tan a/2.

In 1746 Deparcieux published a treatise on annuities and mortality: it was one of the first statistical work of its kind and is the main reason for his fame. Deparcieux's interest in mortality tables resulted from his interest in life expectancy which he had investigated in several different contexts. Lorenzo de Tonti from Naples was a financier who had devised the tontine life insurance plan in the seventeenth century. Those taking part in the plan contributed money which eventually went to the one who survives all the others. Deparcieux studied the way that such plans worked, and he also studied life expectancy in individual families and religious communities. The reason for choosing data such groups was that Deparcieux was fully aware that if one looked at births and deaths in a city (as had been done before), then migration made the data unreliable. The results of Deparcieux's investigations were published in the 1746 treatise Essai sur les probabilités de la durée de la vie humaine.

Deparcieux was, as we have indicated above, interested in hydrodynamics. He devised a way of bringing the water of the river Yvette to Paris and, although he did not see his plan put into being during his lifetime, it was carried out after his death.

Achievements

Antoine Deparcieux is remembered as a prominent mathematician who showed a real progress in his theoretical explanation of the properties of the tables of mortality. He also made further inquiries on the concept of the mean life expectancy.

Works

$Nouveaux Trait\u00E9s De Trigonom\u00E9trie Rectiligne Et Sph\u00E9rique Nouveaux Trait\u00E9s De Trigonom\u00E9trie Rectiligne Et Sph\u00E9rique$ $Essai Sur Les Probabilit\u00E9s de la Dur\u00E9e de la Vie Humaine Essai Sur Les Probabilit\u00E9s de la Dur\u00E9e de la Vie Humaine$ $Addition A L\'essai Sur Les Probabilit\u00E9s De La Dur\u00E9e De La Vie Humaine, Contenant Trois Tables Qui Montrent Comment Une Rente Doit Cro\u00EEtre Ou Augmenter Addition A L\'essai Sur Les Probabilit\u00E9s De La Dur\u00E9e De La Vie Humaine, Contenant Trois Tables Qui Montrent Comment Une Rente Doit Cro\u00EEtre Ou Augmenter$ $Troisime Mmoire Sur Le Projet D\'amener L\'yvette Paris Troisime Mmoire Sur Le Projet D\'amener L\'yvette Paris$

book

Membership

In 1746 Deparcieux was admitted to membership in the Academy of Sciences. He was also a member of the Academy of Sciences of Montpellier, Lyon, Amiens, Metz, Berlin, and Stockholm.

Personality

Deparcieux was described as a modest, not overambitious man, who was always keeping in mind his humble origins.

Connections

Presumably, Deparcieux never married.

Father:: Jean-Antoine Deparcieux
Mother:: Jeanne Donzel
Brother:: Pierre Deparcieux

References

Histoire de la finance en France
1995

Main Photo