Bernard Forest de Bélidor

Bernard Forest de Bélidor (1698, Catalonia, Spain – 8 September 1761, Paris, France) was a French engineer, significant to the development of the science of hydraulics and ballistics.

Portrait of B. Forest de Belidor (1698-1761) (Louis-Gabriel Blanchet, 1752)

He was the son of Jean Baptiste Foret de Belidor, an officer of dragoons, and his wife, Marie Héber but was orphaned at five months old and brought up by the family of his godfather, an artillery officer named de Fossiébourg. Bélidor enlisted in the army at a young age. After leaving the army, he developed an interest in science and engineering, and became professor at the school of artillery of La Fère in Aisne. For a while he worked on measuring the arc of the earth.

He married the daughter or granddaughter of de Fossiébourg.

Works Nouveau cours de mathématiques, 1725 (first use of the term sinusoid) La science des ingénieurs dans la conduite des travaux de fortification et d'architecture civile, 1729 Le bombardier français, ou, nouvelle méthode pour jeter des bombes avec précision. Tables, 1731 L'architecture hydraulique, ou l'art de conduire, d'élever et de ménager les eaux pour les différents besoins de la vie, (1737-1753) Dictionnaire portatif de l'ingénieur, 1758