Gabrielle-Philippe de La Hire was a French mathematician and astronomer who contributed several works on observational and physical astronomy, meteorology and physics, applied science, and medicine. He also served a professor at the Royal Academy of Architecture.
Background
Gabrielle-Philippe de La Hire was born on July 25, 1677, in Paris, France. He was the eldest of three sons of the astronomer Philippe de La Hire and his first wife, Catherine Lesage. He was immersed in mathematics and astronomy from an early age, assisting his father in his observations.
Education
La Hire was educated at the Paris observatory, where he lived after 1682.
Initiated from childhood into astronomy and the technique of meteorological and astronomical observations, he soon assisted his father in the regular work of observation, which led to his being named élève-astronome at the Academy of Sciences by 1694. He then became associé at the time of the reorganization of 1699 and succeeded his father as pensionnaire on May 17, 1718.
The first work of his own, establishing the Ephémérides for 1701, 1702, and 1703, involved him in a painful dispute with Jean Le Fèvre, astronome pensionnaire and editor of the Connaissance des temps, who accused La Hire and his father of plagiarism and incompetence. Severely censured by the Academy, Le Fèvre was expelled in January 1702 and also gave up the editorship of the Connaissance des temps. In 1702 La Hire published a new edition, with numerous additions, of Mathurin Jousse’s Le théâtre de Part de charpenterie.
Starting in 1703, La Hire presented short memoirs to the Academy of Sciences. Although they reveal no marked originality, their variety attests to the range of his interests: observational and physical astronomy (seven memoirs), meteorology and physics (seven), applied science (three), and medicine (two). His nomination as member of the second class of the Royal Academy of Architecture led La Hire to consider several technical and architectural problems. His treatment of them is preserved in this academy’s Procès-verbaux. In 1718 he succeeded his father as professor at this institution but filled this position for only a few months. In the same year La Hire participated in the geodesic operations carried out under the direction of Jacques Cassini to extend the meridian of Paris from Amiens to Dunkerque.
Achievements
Membership
La Hire was a member of the second class of the Royal Academy of Architecture and member of the Academy of Sciences.
Royal Academy of Architecture
,
France
French Academy of Sciences
,
France
Personality
La Hire was often called Philippe II by his contemporaries.