Henri Pitot

Henri de Pitot ( May 3, 1695 in Aramon, Gard, † December 27, 1771 ) was a French hydraulic engineer.

Life and work

Pitot worked at the beginning of his work as a mathematician and astronomer. He was concerned with flows in rivers and canals. Based on the erroneous assumption that the flow rate of a water body would increase with depth, he invented a device that could display this speed. This simple device is today still known as pitot tube.

He became known at the time by the draft aqueduc de Saint -Clément in Montpellier and the broadening of the Pont du Gard at Nîmes. Pitot was recorded in 1718 in the French Académie des sciences.

In the geometry of the set of pitot is named after him.