List of French scientists

This is a list of notable French scientists.

A

José Achache (20th-21st centuries), geophysicist and ecologist
Jean le Rond d'Alembert (1717–1783), mathematician, mechanician, physicist and philosopher
Claude Allègre (born 1937), geochemist
Lucile Allorge (born 1937), botanist
André-Marie Ampère (1775–1836), physicist and mathematician
Camille Arambourg (1885–1969), vertebrate palaeontologist.
Françoise Ardré (1931–2010), phycologist, marine scientist
Alain Aspect (born 1947), physicist

B

Louis Bachelier (1870–1946), mathematician
Antoine Jérôme Balard (1802–1876), chemist
Éliane Basse (1899–1985), paleontologist and geologist
Pierre-Dominique Bazaine (1786–1838), mathematician and engineer
Jean de Beaurain (1696–1771), geographer
Antoine César Becquerel (1788–1878), electrochemist
Edmond Becquerel (1820–1891), physicist
Henri Becquerel (1852–1908), physicist and Nobel laureate
Jean Becquerel (1878–1953), physicist
Léon Bence (1929–1987), physician
Jacques Benoit (1896–1982), physician, biologist and neuroendocrinologist
Claude Bernard (1813–1878), physiologist
Marcellin Berthelot (1827–1907), chemist, opponent of vitalism
Claude Louis Berthollet (1748–1822), chemist
Julien Bessières (1777–1840), physician, diplomat, and member of the Egyptian Institute of Sciences and Arts
Alfred Binet (1857–1911), psychologist who invented the first practical IQ test
Prosper-René Blondlot (1849–1930), physicist
Pierre Boiteau (1911–1980), botanist
Jean Bosler (1878–1973), astronomer
Marcellin Boule (1861–1942), palaeontologist, geologist, and anthropologist
Claude Bourgelat (1712–1779), veterinary surgeon
Thomas Bourgeron (born 1965), neuroscientist
Jean-Baptiste Boussingault (1801–1887), chemist
Gerard Brachet (born 1944), space scientist
Paul Broca (1824–1880), physician, surgeon, anatomist, and anthropologist
Louis de Broglie (1892-1987), physicist
Bernard Brunhes (1867–1910), physicist
Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707–1788), naturalist and mathematician

C

Bernard Cabane (born 1945), physicist and chemist
Pierre Jean George Cabanis (1757–1808), physiologist
Albert Calmette (1863–1933), physician, bacteriologist and immunologist
Georges Canguilhem (1904–1995), physician and philosopher
Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot (1796–1832), physicist and military engineer
Élie Cartan (1869–1951), mathematician
Henri Cartan (1904–2008), mathematician
Augustin-Louis Cauchy (1789–1857), mathematician and physicist
Jean-François Champollion (1790–1832), philologist
Jean-Pierre Changeux (born 1936), neurochemist
Georges Charpak (1924–2010), physicist, Nobel prize winner 1992
Georges Charpy (1865–1945), physicist and metallurgist
Henry Louis Le Chatelier (1850–1936), chemist known for Le Chatelier's principle
Albert Châtelet (1883–1960), mathematician
Émilie du Châtelet (1706–1749), mathematician and physicist
Jean Mathieu de Chazelles (1657–1710), professor of hydrography
Michel Che (1941–2019), chemist
Daniel Choquet (born 1962), neuroscientist
Gustave Choquet (1915–2006), mathematician
Yvonne Choquet-Bruhat (born 1923), mathematician
Charles Pierre Claret de Fleurieu (1738–1810), explorer, hydrographer and politician
Alain Connes (born 1947), mathematician; Fields Medalist 1982
Louis Couffignal (1902–1966), mathematician and cybernetician
Charles-Augustin de Coulomb (1736–1806), physicist, discoverer of Coulomb's law
Vincent Courtillot (born 1948), geophysicist
Jacques-Yves Cousteau (1910–1997), oceanographer
Philippe Cousteau (1940–1979), oceanographer
Jean-Marie-Joseph Coutelle (1748–1835), engineer, scientist and pioneer of ballooning
Adam de Craponne (1526–1576), engineer who implemented the Canal de Craponne in 1559
Jean Cruveilhier (1791–1874), anatomist and pathologist
Marie Curie (1867–1934), physicist and chemist, two Nobel Prizes, in physics (1903) and chemistry (1911)
Pierre Curie (1859–1906), physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize in physics (1903)
Georges Cuvier (1769–1832), regarded as the founding father of palaeontology
Boris Cyrulnik (born 1937), ethologist, neurologist, and psychiatrist

D

Thomas-François Dalibard (1709–1778), physicist and botanist
Henry Darcy (1803–1858), hydraulic engineer
Michel Darluc (1717–1783), naturalist
Raymond Daudel (1920–2006), quantum chemist
Jean Dausset (1916–2009), biologist, Nobel prize winner 1980
André-Louis Debierne (1874–1949), chemist
Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre (1749–1822), mathematician and astronomer
Marcel Deprez (1843–1918), electrical engineer
John Theophilus Desaguliers (1683–1744), natural philosopher (physicist)
Guillaume Delisle (1675–1726), cartographer
Girard Desargues (1591–1661), mathematician
René Descartes (1596–1650), scientist and philosopher
Robert Debré (1882–1978), physician
Roland Douce (1939–2018), plant biologist
Jean-Baptiste du Hamel (1624–1706), natural philosopher (physicist)
Émilien Dumas (1804–1873), palaeontologist, and geologist
Jean-Baptiste Dumas (1800–1884), chemist
Charles François Dupuis (1742–1809), polymath and theologian

F

Pierre Fauchard (1679–1761), physician, "the father of modern dentistry"
Hervé Faye (1814–1902), astronomer
Pierre de Fermat (1607–1665), mathematician
Louis Feuillée (1660–1732), explorer, astronomer, geographer, and botanist
Bernard Foing (20–21st century), astronomer
Léon Foucault (1819–1868), physicist
Pierre Fourmanoir (1924–2007), ichthyologist
Joseph Fourier (1768–1830), mathematician and physicist
Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788–1827), physicist known for work on optics

G

Pierre-Gilles de Gennes (1932–2007), mathematician and physicist, Nobel Prize in physics 1991
Sophie Germain (1776–1831) mathematician, physicist and philosopher.
Paul Gervais (1816–1879), palaeontologist and entomologist
Jacques Géry (1917–2007), ichthyologist
Mirko Grmek (1924–2000), historian of medicine
Alexander Grothendieck (1928–2014), mathematician; Fields Medalist 1966 (German-born)
Camille Guérin (1872–1961), biologist
André Guinier (1911–2000), physicist

H

Jacques Hadamard (1865–1963), mathematician
Armand Havet (1795–1820), botanist
Victor Henri (1872–1940), physical chemist and physiologist
Charles Hermite (1822–1901), mathematician
Catherine Hill (born 1946), epidemiologist and biostatistician
Étienne Hubert d'Orléans (1567–1614), Arabist

J

François Jacob (1920–2013), biologist, Nobel prize winner 1965
Charles Janet (1849–1932), chemist and biologist
Paul Janet (1823–1899), philosopher
Irène Joliot-Curie (1897–1956), physicist, Nobel Prize winner 1935
Frédéric Joliot-Curie (1900–1958), physicist, Nobel Prize winner 1935
Jean Jouzel (born 1947), glaciologist and climatologist
Gaston Julia (1893–1978), mathematician

K

Nicole El Karoui (born 1944), mathematician
Robert Kühner (1903–1996), mycologist
Jean Kuntzmann (1912–1992), mathematician

L

Michel de La Vigne (1588–1648), physician
Yves Lacoste (born 1929), geographer and geopolitician
Laurent Lafforgue (born 1966), mathematician; Fields Medalist 2002
Frédéric de Lafresnaye (1783–1861), ornithologist
Joseph Louis Lagrange (1736–1813), mathematician
Jean Laherrère (born 1931), consultant and petroleum engineer
Claude François Lallemand (1790–1854), physician and pathologist
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744–1829), evolutionary biologist
Paul Langevin (1872–1946), physicist
Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749–1827), mathematician and physicist
François-de-Paule Latapie (1739–1823), botanist
Lucien Laubier (1936–2008), oceanographer
René Lavocat (1909–2007), paleontologist
Antoine Lavoisier (1743–1794), chemist
Michel Lazdunski (born 1938), biochemist
Eliane Le Breton (1897–1977), physiologist
Xavier Le Pichon (born 1937), geophysicist
Alfred Legoyt (1812–1885), statistician
Jean-Marie Lehn (born 1939), chemist, Nobel prize 1987
Jean-Marc Lévy-Leblond (born 1940), physicist
Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908–2009), anthropologist
Arnoult de Lisle (1556–1613), Arabist and physician
Pierre-Louis Lions (born 1956), mathematician; Fields Medalist 1994
Edmond Locard (1877–1966), pioneer of forensic science
André Lwoff (1902–1994), biologist, Nobel prize 1965

M

Jean-Michel Macron (born 1950), neurologist
Charles Madic (1942–2008), radiochemist
Jean-Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan (1678–1771), geophysicist, astronomer and chronobiologist
Benoit Mandelbrot (1924–2010), mathematician
Pierre Louis Maupertuis (1698–1759), mathematician and philosopher
Prosper Ménière (1799–1862), doctor concerned with hearing loss and tinnitus
Marin Mersenne (1588–1648), mathematician
Charles Messier (1730-1817), astronomer
André Michaux (1746–1802), botanist and explorer
François André Michaux (1770–1855), botanist
Jean-Louis Michel (born 1945), oceanographer and engineer
Alphonse Milne-Edwards (1835–1900), mammalologist and ornithologist
Henri Milne-Edwards (1800–1885), zoologist
Abraham de Moivre (1667–1754), mathematician
Jacques Monod (1910–1976), biologist, Nobel prize winner 1965
Théodore Monod (1902–2000), naturalist and theologian
Gabriel Mouton (1618–1694), mathematician and astronomer

N–O

Adolphe-Simon Neboux (1806–1844), surgeon and naturalist
Louis Néel (1904–2000), physicist, Nobel Prize 1970
André Niederlender (1890–1959), archaeologist
Jean de Noailles (1739–1824), chemist
Jean-Baptiste Noulet (1802–1890), archaeologist
Hélène Olivier-Bourbigou (born 1962), chemist

P–Q

Henri Padé (1863–1953), mathematician
Paul Painlevé (1863–1933), mathematician and statesman
Denis Papin (1647–1713), physicist, mathematician, and inventor
Blaise Pascal (1623–1662), mathematician and philosopher
Étienne Pascal (1588–1651), mathematician
Louis Pasteur (1822–1895), microbiologist and chemist
Jean Pecquet (1622–1674), psychologist
Jean-Marie Pelt (1933–2015), botanist
Jocelyne Pérard (born 1940), geographer
Jean Robert Petit (21st century), paleoclimatologist
Alphonse Pinart (1852–1911), philologist
Gilles Pisier (born 1950), mathematician
Hippolyte Pixii (1808–1835), inventor
Henri Poincaré (1854–1912), mathematician and physicist
Lucien Poincaré (1862–1920), physicist
Siméon Poisson (1781–1840), mathematician and physicist
Pierre Poivre (1719–1786), horticulturist and botanist
Albéric Pont (1870–1960), dentist and pioneer in maxillofacial surgery
Alberte Pullman (1920–2011), quantum chemist
Bernard Pullman (1919–1996), quantum chemist
Lucien Quélet (1832-1899), naturalist and mycologist

R

Petrus Ramus (1515–1572), mathematician and logician
Louis-Antoine Ranvier (1835–1922), physician, pathologist, anatomist and histologist
Didier Raoult (born 1952), microbiologist and virologist
René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur (1683–1757), entomologist
Jean-Baptiste Robinet (1735–1820), naturalist
Antoine Georges Roederer (born 1943), engineer and scientist
Paul Rohmer (1876–1977), physician
Michel Rolle (1652–1719), mathematician
Henri Romagnesi (1912–1999), mycologist
Jean Rostand (1894–1977), biologist and philosopher
Louis Rougier (1889–1982), mathematician, physicist, and philosopher

S

Nicolas Sarrabat (1698–1739), mathematician concerned with many aspects of science
Henri Émile Sauvage (1842–1917), ichthyologist, paleontologist, and herpetologist
Conrad Schlumberger (1878–1936), geophysicist
Marcel Schlumberger (1884–1953), geophysicist
Laurent Schwartz (1915–2002), mathematician; Fields Medalist 1950
Géraud Sénizergues (born 1957), computer scientist and 2002 Gödel Prize recipient.
Jean-Pierre Serre (born 1926), mathematician; Fields Medalist 1954

T

Michel Talagrand (born 1952), mathematician
Jules Tannery (1848–1910), mathematician
Auguste Ambroise Tardieu (1818–1879), forensic medical scientist
Haroun Tazieff (1914–1998), volcanologist and geologist
Daniel Tauvry (1669–1701), physician
Fabiola Terzi (20–21st century), physician-scientist
Melchisédech Thévenot (c. 1620–1692), inventor of the spirit level
Adrien-Jean-Pierre Thilorier (1790–1844), discoverer of dry ice
Françoise Thom (born 1951), historian
René Thom (1923–2002), mathematician; Fields Medal 1958
Muriel Thomasset (born 1971), physicist
Pierre-Marie-Jérôme Trésaguet (1716–1796), engineer and road builder
François Trèves (born 1930), mathematician

V–Y

Georges Valiron (1884–1955), mathematician
Jean-Pierre Vernant (1914–2007), historian
Jean-Christophe Victor (1947–2016), geographer
Paul-Émile Victor (1907–1995), ethnologist
François Viète (1540–1603), mathematician
Louis Pierre Vieillot (1748–1830), ornithologist
Charles Athanase Walckenaer (1771–1852), geographer
Wendelin Werner (born 1968), mathematician; Fields Medalist 2006 (German-born)
Rachid Yazami (born 1953), engineer and inventor
Jean-Christophe Yoccoz (1957–2016), mathematician; Fields Medalist 1994

Z

Andrea Zitolo, scientist in phyisical-chemistry

A

B

C

D

F

G

H

J

K

L

M

N–O

P–Q

R

S

T

V–Y

Z

See also