List of the 72 names on the Eiffel Tower

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The location of the names on the tower

On the Eiffel Tower, 72 names of French scientists, engineers, and mathematicians are engraved in recognition of their contributions.[1] Gustave Eiffel chose this "invocation of science" because of his concern over the protests against the tower, and chose names of those who had distinguished themselves since 1789.[2] The engravings are found on the sides of the tower under the first balcony, in letters about 60 cm (24 in) tall, and were originally painted in gold. The engraving was painted over at the beginning of the 20th century and restored in 1986–87 by Société Nouvelle d'exploitation de la Tour Eiffel, the company that the city of Paris contracts to operate the Tower. The repainting of 2010–11 restored the letters to their original gold colour. There are also names of the engineers who helped build the Tower and design its architecture on a plaque on the top of the Tower, where a laboratory was built as well.[citation needed]

List[edit]

Location[edit]

The list is split in four parts (one for each side of the tower). The sides have been named after the parts of Paris that each side faces:

  • The North-East side (also known as La Bourdonnais side)
  • The South-West side (also known as the Grenelle side)
  • The North West side (also known as the Trocadéro side)

Names[edit]

In the table below are all the names on the four sides.

Name appearing Full name Occupation Location Portrait
SEGUIN Marc Seguin engineer
NW01
LALANDE Jérôme Lalande astronomer
NW02
TRESCA Henri Tresca engineer and mechanic
NW03
PONCELET Jean-Victor Poncelet geometer
NW04
BRESSE Jacques Antoine Charles Bresse civil engineer and hydraulic engineer
NW05
LAGRANGE Joseph-Louis Lagrange mathematician
NW06
BELANGER Jean-Baptiste-Charles-Joseph Bélanger mathematician and hydraulic engineer
NW07
CUVIER Georges Cuvier naturalist
NW08
LAPLACE Pierre-Simon Laplace mathematician and astronomer
NW09
DULONG Pierre Louis Dulong physicist and chemist
NW10
CHASLES Michel Chasles geometer
NW11
LAVOISIER Antoine Lavoisier chemist
NW12
AMPERE André-Marie Ampère mathematician and physicist
NW13
CHEVREUL Michel Eugène Chevreul chemist
NW14
FLACHAT Eugène Flachat civil engineer
NW15
NAVIER Claude-Louis Marie Henri Navier mathematician
NW16
LEGENDRE Adrien-Marie Legendre mathematician
NW17
CHAPTAL Jean-Antoine Chaptal agronomist and chemist
NW18
JAMIN Jules Jamin physicist
SW01
GAY-LUSSAC Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac chemist
SW02
FIZEAU Hippolyte Fizeau physicist
SW03
SCHNEIDER Eugène Schneider industrialist
SW04
LE CHATELIER Louis Le Chatelier engineer
SW05
BERTHIER Pierre Berthier mineralogist
SW06
BARRAL Jean-Augustin Barral agronomist, chemist, physicist
SW07
DE DION Henri de Dion[a] engineer
SW08
GOUIN Ernest Goüin engineer and industrialist
SW09
JOUSSELIN Louis Didier Jousselin engineer
SW10
BROCA Paul Broca physician and anthropologist
SW11
BECQUEREL Antoine César Becquerel physicist
SW12
CORIOLIS Gaspard-Gustave Coriolis engineer and scientist
SW13
CAIL Jean-François Cail industrialist
SW14
TRIGER Jacques Triger engineer
SW15
GIFFARD Henri Giffard engineer
SW16
PERRIER François Perrier geographer and mathematician
SW17
STURM Jacques Charles François Sturm mathematician
SW18
CAUCHY Augustin-Louis Cauchy mathematician
SE01
BELGRAND Eugène Belgrand engineer
SE02
REGNAULT Henri Victor Regnault chemist and physicist
SE03
FRESNEL Augustin-Jean Fresnel civil engineer and physicist
SE04
DE PRONY Gaspard de Prony engineer
SE05
VICAT Louis Vicat engineer
SE06
EBELMEN Jacques-Joseph Ebelmen chemist
SE07
COULOMB Charles-Augustin de Coulomb physicist
SE08
POINSOT Louis Poinsot mathematician
SE09
FOUCAULT Léon Foucault physicist
SE10
DELAUNAY Charles-Eugène Delaunay astronomer
SE11
MORIN Arthur Morin mathematician and physicist
SE12
HAUY René Just Haüy mineralogist
SE13
COMBES Charles Combes engineer and metallurgist
SE14
THENARD Louis Jacques Thénard chemist
SE15
ARAGO François Arago astronomer and physicist
SE16
POISSON Siméon Denis Poisson mathematician and physicist
SE17
MONGE Gaspard Monge geometer
SE18
PETIET Jules Petiet engineer
NE01
DAGUERRE Louis Daguerre artist and chemist
NE02
WURTZ Charles-Adolphe Wurtz chemist
NE03
LE VERRIER Urbain Le Verrier astronomer
NE04
PERDONNET Albert Auguste Perdonnet engineer
NE05
DELAMBRE Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre astronomer
NE06
MALUS Étienne-Louis Malus physicist
NE07
BREGUET Louis Breguet physicist and inventor
NE08
POLONCEAU Camille Polonceau engineer
NE09
DUMAS Jean-Baptiste Dumas chemist
NE10
CLAPEYRON Émile Clapeyron engineer and physicist
NE11
BORDA Jean-Charles de Borda mathematician
NE12
FOURIER Joseph Fourier mathematician
NE13
BICHAT Marie François Xavier Bichat anatomist and physiologist
NE14
SAUVAGE François Clément Sauvage engineer and geologist
NE15
PELOUZE Théophile-Jules Pelouze chemist
NE16
CARNOT Lazare Carnot[b] mathematician
NE17
LAME Gabriel Lamé mathematician
NE18

Criticism[edit]

Women[edit]

The list contains no women. The list has been criticized for excluding the name of Sophie Germain, a noted French mathematician whose work on the theory of elasticity was used in the construction of the tower itself.[3] In 1913, John Augustine Zahm suggested that Germain was excluded because she was a woman.[4]

Hydraulic engineers and scholars[edit]

Fourteen hydraulic engineers and scholars are listed on the Eiffel Tower. Eiffel acknowledged most of the leading scientists in the field. Henri Philibert Gaspard Darcy is missing; some of his work did not come into wide use until the 20th century. Also missing are Antoine Chézy, who was less famous;[citation needed] Joseph Valentin Boussinesq, who was early in his career at the time;[5] and mathematician Évariste Galois. Other famous French mathematicians are missing from the list: Joseph Liouville and Charles Hermite.

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ not to be confused with Jules-Albert de Dion, automobile pioneer
  2. ^ not to be confused with Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot, his son

References[edit]

  1. ^ "The 72 Scientists". La Tour Eiffel. Archived from the original on 15 February 2008. Retrieved 31 January 2008.
  2. ^ Harriss, Joseph (1975). The Tallest Tower: Eiffel And The Belle Epoque. Houghton Mifflin. pp. 100–101. ISBN 0395204402.
  3. ^ Gray, Mary (1978). "Sophie Germain (1776–1831)". In Grinstein, Louise S.; Campbell, Paul (eds.). Women of Mathematics: A Bibliographic Sourcebook. Greenwood. pp. 47–55. ISBN 978-0-313-24849-8.
  4. ^ Mozen, H. J. (pseud.) (1913). Women in Science: With an Introductory Chapter on Women's Long Struggle for Things of the Mind. D. Appleton. pp. 154–157.
  5. ^ Chanson, Hubert (13 April 2009). "Hydraulic Engineering Legends Listed on the Eiffel Tower". In Rogers, Jerry R. (ed.). Great Rivers History: Proceedings and Invited Papers for the EWRI Congress and Great Rivers History Symposium. American Society of Civil Engineers. pp. 1–7. doi:10.1061/41032(344)1. ISBN 978-0-7844-1032-5.

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]