# 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 (1923–2025), 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
* Jacques Ricard (1929–2028), biochemist
* 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 physical-chemistry