in the
business cluster of
Paris-Saclay,
France Physics Radioactivity was discovered by
Henri Becquerel in 1896. The theoretical foundations and mathematical framework of special relativity were laid by
Henri Poincaré, before
Albert Einstein used them in 1905 and later.
Chemistry The
conservation of mass law was discovered by
Antoine Lavoisier in 18th century France.
Mathematics The
Cartesian Coordinate System was discovered by
René Descartes in 1637 (and independently by Pierre de Fermat at the same period). The first
calculator by
Blaise Pascal (
Pascaline) was made in 1642. (see also
Adding machine)
Probability theory was developed by
Pierre de Fermat and Blaise Pascal in the seventeenth century (with
Gerolamo Cardano and
Christiaan Huygens). France is home to 11
Fields Medalists, second only to the
United States in number of
Fields Medalists. The fictitious mathematician
Nicolas Bourbaki's "association of collaborators" is based at
École Normale Supérieure in
France.
Nuclear power France carried out its
first test of an atomic bomb in Algeria in 1960 and some operational French nuclear weapons became available in 1964. Then, France executed its
first test of the much more powerful
hydrogen bomb over its
South Pacific Ocean test range in 1968; this first hydrogen bomb was dropped from a
strategic bomber. France was the fourth de facto nuclear power after
United States,
Soviet Union and
United Kingdom.
Space science In 1965, France was the third nation, after the former
USSR and the
United States, to launch its own space satellite. The French no longer launch their own satellites, however, preferring instead to contribute to the European Space Agency. ==See also==