Antoine de Chézy

Antoine de Chézy (September 1, 1718 – October 5, 1798), also called Antoine Chézy, was a French physicist and hydraulics engineer who contributed greatly to the study of fluid mechanics and designed a canal for the Paris water supply. He is known for developing a similarity parameter for predicting the flow characteristics of one channel based on the measurements of another, known today as the Chézy formula. By the definition of open channel, the Chézy formula also applies to partially-full pipe flow.

Chézy was born September 1, 1718, in Châlons-en-Champagne, France. Chézy graduated with honors from the Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées and worked closely with Jean-Rodolphe Perronet, the first director of the school. He contributed to a wide range of projects that we would describe today as civil engineering, including the construction of bridges, canals, and streets in Paris.

His son was Antoine-Léonard de Chézy (1773–1832), a famous orientalist.