Hubert Gautier

Hubert Gautier (also Henri Gautier ) ( born August 21, 1660 in Nîmes, † September 27, 1737 in Paris) was a French engineer and scientist. He wrote the first theoretical work on the road as well as the first fundamental work on the bridge.

Life

Gautier was the son of a Huguenot Wollkämmlers. After school in Nîmes, he studied medicine in the Protestant Orange, where he gained his doctorate in 1679. Because of his interest in mathematics, he was active from 1686 to 1688 during the construction of Fort Vauban in Nîmes. After King Louis XIV had revoked the Edict of Fontainebleau freedom of religion, converted to Catholicism in 1689 Gautier. In the same year he became an engineer of the province of Languedoc. Until 1694 he was the construction of the still existing bridge in Coursan active over the Aude, then he worked for various projects in the Languedoc, including the Canal du Midi. 1713 he was appointed one of the first inspectors of the bridge and road construction ( Inspecteur des ponts et chaussées ) and settled in Paris. After another 18 years of service to the Ponts et chaussées he took in 1731 at the age of 71 years his leave to retire.

Work

In 1693 Gautier published in Toulouse, the first textbook on the road ( Traité de la construction of chemins ). In it, he describes not only methods of road drainage, the principles of the Roman road construction. In the construction of roadways Gautier selects a coarse support layer made of large, gently laid stones. Then a compensating layer and a final top layer is made ​​of fine crushed gravel. The construction and is bordered by severe curbs. The track is performed on a small dam and thus can be effectively drained. The work was reprinted in 1716 and 1721 in Paris.

1716 his work Traité des ponts appear in Paris (Treatise on the bridge ), which is to 1768 also launched several times and in 1759 translated into German. It remains in France at least to the works of Émiland Gauthey from the years 1809-1813, the only fundamental work on the bridge.

In 1721 he published his treatise conjectures Nouvelles sur le globe terrestre ( New reflections on the globe ) ( which appeared as part of his Bibliothèque des philosophes et des sçavans ), in which he tried the traditional teaching about the slow shaping the Earth's surface only by rivers and to join sedimentary deposits in the oceans with the view of Descartes, that the mountain building is done by comparatively sudden tectonic events.

His publications include a number of smaller works:

• Henri Gautier: Traité de la construction of chemins. Toulouse 1693rd
• H. Gautier: Traité de la construction of chemins. 2nd edition. André Cailleau, Paris 1721st ( digitized on Google books, retrieved on January 31, 2012)
• Henri Gautier: L'art de dessiner proprement les plans, porfils, elevation geometrales, et perspectives, soit d'architecture civile ou militaire: avec tous les secrets les plus rares pour faire les couleurs avec les lesquelles engineer representent les divers materiaux d'une place. In 1697.
• Henri Gautier: Traité des ponts. Paris 1716.
• H. Gautier: Traité des Ponts. 2nd edition. André Cailleau, Paris 1728, digitized version on Google books, retrieved January 31, 2012
• Henri Gautier: Dissertation sur les culées, voussoirs, piles et poussées des ponts. 1717.
• Henri Gautier: Histoire de la ville de Nîmes et de ses antiquités. In 1720.
• Henri Gautier: Nouvelles conjectures sur le globe de la terre. 1721st
• Henri Gautier: Bibliothèque des philosophes et des anciens sçavans tant que modern. André Cailleau, Paris 1723. ( Digitized on Google books, retrieved on January 31, 2012)
• Henri Gautier: Dissertation sur les projets de canaux de Navigation d' arrosage & pour la conduite of Fontaines.
• Henri Gautier: Dissertation sur la conduite of mâts pour les Vaisseaux du roi, depuis les Forestry où les on abbat jusque dans les ports de mer auxquels on les destine. Paris.
• Henri Gautier: Dissertaion qui les résout difficultés sur la poussée of Voûtes & the arches, à différents surbaissements, sur les piles, les voussoirs, la charge of pilotis, le profil of murs qui doivent soutenir of terrasses, the Ramparts à hauteur adjusting donnée que ce puisse être. Paris.
• Henri Gautier: Traité de l'art de laver les différents desseins envoie qu'on à la cour. Lyon.
• Henri Gautier: Traité des armes à feu, tant of the canons dont on se sert sur ​​terre et sur ​​mer, avec leurs proportions, comme des Mortier pour leurs jets de bombes, avec la manière de leur diriger portée. Lyon.
• Henri Gautier: Traité des fortifications; avec l' examen de toutes le méthodes dont on s'est servi pour jusqu'alors fortifier les places. Lyon.
• Henri Gautier: Plusieurs lettres nouvelles ou sur la peste conjectures, sur tous les corps & animés & inanimés. Paris.