Louis Vicat French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 engineer

Engineer

An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...

.

He graduated from École Polytechnique

École Polytechnique

The École Polytechnique is a state-run institution of higher education and research in Palaiseau, Essonne, France, near Paris. Polytechnique is renowned for its four year undergraduate/graduate Master's program...

 1804 and École des Ponts et Chaussées

École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées

Founded in 1747, the École nationale des ponts et chaussées , often referred to as les Ponts, is the world's oldest civil engineering school...

 1806.

Vicat studied setting of mortars (white gold). The material was popular but was superseded by Portland cement

Portland cement

Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world because it is a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco and most non-specialty grout...

. He also invented the Vicat needle that is still in use for determination of setting time of concretes and cements. His son, Joseph Vicat, founded Vicat Cement

Vicat Cement

Vicat SA is a French company manufacturing cement, aggregates and ready-mix concrete in four continents.-History:The company was established in 1853 by Joseph Vicat , son of Louis Vicat, who invented artificial cement in 1817. His cement plant was at Genevrey-de-Vif south of Grenoble...

, which is today a large international cement manufacturing company.

Member of the French Academy of Sciences

French Academy of Sciences

The French Academy of Sciences is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research...

, his name is one of the 72 names inscribed on the Eiffel Tower.

Biography

• Guy Coriono (1997) 250 ans de l'École des Ponts et Chaussées en cent portraits. 222 pp. Presses de l'École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, Paris, ISBN 2-85978-271-0.

• Antoine Picon (1997) L'art de l'Ingénieur. Constructeur, entrepreneur, inventeur. 598 pp. Editions du Centre Pompidou, Paris, ISBN 2-85850-911-5.