author
Lucien Poincaré
1862–1920
A French physicist who moved easily between science and public service, he helped shape education in France at the highest level during the early 20th century. His career joined laboratory learning, university leadership, and a strong belief in making science more widely understood.
1 Audiobook
The New Physics and Its Evolution
by Lucien Poincaré
About the author
Born in Bar-le-Duc on July 22, 1862, Lucien Poincaré built a career that linked physics, teaching, and national education. He became an inspector general of physical science, later led secondary and then higher education at the French Ministry of Public Instruction, and in 1917 was appointed rector of the Académie de Paris.
He also wrote popular and educational works on science, including a book on modern physics that was recognized by the Académie des sciences. Contemporary notices describe him as an influential figure in French higher education whose death in Paris on March 9, 1920, was widely felt.
Lucien Poincaré came from a notably accomplished family: he was the brother of Raymond Poincaré and a cousin of mathematician Henri Poincaré. Even so, his own legacy stands on its own, especially in the way he combined scientific training with public leadership in French education.