List of French scientists

• José Achache (20th-21st centuries), geophysicist and ecologist • Jean le Rond d'Alembert (1717–1783), mathematician, mechanician, physicist and philosopher • Claude Allègre (1937–2025), 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 • Suzanne Débarbat (1928–2024), astronomer and historian of science and technology • 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 • Jacqueline Ficini (1923-1988), known for developing the synthetic chemistry of ynamine • 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 (1937–2025), 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 (1929–2018), 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 ==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 (born 1980), scientist in physical-chemistry ==See also==