François Arago

François Jean Dominique Arago (February 26, 1786 – October 2, 1853) was a French mathematician, physicist, astronomer, and politician.

Early life

Arago was born at Estagel, a small village near Perpignan, in the département of Pyrenees-Orientales, France. He was the eldest of four brothers. Jean (1788 - 1836) emigrated to North America and became a general in the Mexican army. Jacques Etienne Victor (1799 - 1855) took part in Louis de Freycinet's exploring voyage in the Uranie from as 1817 to 1821, and on his return to France devoted himself to his journalism and the drama. The fourth brother, Etienne Vincent de (1802 - 1892), is said to have collaborated with Honoré de Balzac in The Heiress of Birague, and from 1822 to 1847 wrote a great number of light dramatic pieces, mostly in collaboration. Showing decided military tastes François Arago was sent to the municipal college of Perpignan, where he began to study mathematics in preparation for the entrance examination of the polytechnic school. Within two years and a half he had mastered all the subjects prescribed for examination, and a great deal more, and, on going up for examination at Toulouse, he astounded his examiner by his knowledge of J. L. Lagrange. Towards the close of 1803 he entered the École Polytechnique, Paris, but apparently found the professors there incapable of imparting knowledge or maintaining discipline. The artillery service was his ambition, and in 1804, through the advice and recommendation of Simeon Poisson, he received the appointment of secretary to the Paris Observatory. He now became acquainted with Pierre-Simon Laplace, and through his influence was commissioned, with Jean Baptiste Biot, to complete the meridianal measurements which had been begun by J. B. J. Delambre, and interrupted since the death of P. F. A. Méchain in 1804). Arago and Biot left Paris in 1806 and began operations along the mountains of Spain. Biot returned to Paris after they had determined the latitude of Formentera, the southernmost point to which they were to carry the survey. Arago continued the work until 1809, his purpose being to measure a meridian arc in order to determine the exact length of a metre.

Related Topics:
Estagel - Perpignan - Département - Pyrenees-Orientales - France - 1788 - 1836 - North America - Mexican - Jacques Etienne Victor - 1799 - 1855 - Louis de Freycinet - 1817 - 1821 - 1802 - 1892 - Honoré de Balzac - 1822 - 1847 - Mathematics - Toulouse - J. L. Lagrange - 1803 - École Polytechnique - Paris - 1804 - Simeon Poisson - Paris Observatory - Pierre-Simon Laplace - Jean Baptiste Biot - Meridian - J. B. J. Delambre - 1806 - Spain - Formentera - 1809 - Arc - Metre

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After Biot's departure, the political ferment caused by the entrance of the French into Spain extended to the Balearic Islands, and the population suspected Arago's movements and his lighting of fires on the top of Mount Galatzo as the activities of a spy for the invading army. Their reaction was such that he was obliged to give himself up for imprisonment in the fortress of Bellver in June 1808. On July 28 he escaped from the island in a fishing-boat, and after adventurous voyage he reached Algiers on August 3. From there he obtained a passage in a vessel bound for Marseille, but on August 16, just as the vessel was nearing Marseille, it fell into the hands of a Spanish corsair. With the rest the crew, Arago was taken to Roses, and imprisoned first in a windmill, and afterwards in a fortress, until the town fell into the hands of the French, when the prisoners were transferred to Palamos. After three months' imprisonment they were released on the demand of the dey of Algiers, and again set sail for Marseille on the November 28, but then within sight of their port they were driven back by a northerly wind to Bougie on the coast of Africa. Transport to Algiers by sea from this place would have occasioned a weary delay of three months; Arago, therefore, set out over land, guided by a Moslem priest, and reached it on Christmas Day. After six months in Algiers he once again, on the June 21, 1809, set sail for Marseille, where he had to undergo a monotonous and inhospitable quarantine in the lazaretto, before his difficulties were over. The first letter he received, while in the lazaretto, was from Alexander von Humboldt; and this was the origin of a connection which, in Arago's words, lasted over forty years without a single cloud ever having troubled it.

Related Topics:
Balearic Islands - Mount Galatzo - Bellver - 1808 - July 28 - Algiers - August 3 - Marseille - August 16 - Corsair - Roses - Palamos - Dey - November 28 - Bougie - Africa - Christmas Day - June 21 - 1809 - Lazaretto - Alexander von Humboldt

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~