Belidor, Bernard Forest de

born 1698, Catalonia, Spain

died Sept. 8, 1761, Paris, France

French military and civil engineer.

After serving in the French army, he worked on measuring an arc of the Earth. As professor of artillery at a French military school, he wrote notable books on engineering, artillery, ballistics, and fortifications, but his fame rests primarily on his classic Architecture hydraulique (4 vol., 1737–53), covering engineering mechanics, mills and waterwheels, pumps, harbours, and sea works.

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▪ French engineer

born 1698, Catalonia, Spain

died Sept. 8, 1761, Paris, France

      military and civil engineer and author of a classic work on hydraulics.

      After serving in the French army at an early age, he developed an interest in science and worked on the measurement of an arc of the Earth. The study of ballistics also attracted him, and he became professor of artillery at the French military school at La Fère and eventually rose to become inspector of artillery. He wrote several notable books on engineering, artillery, ballistics, and fortifications, but his fame rests primarily on Architecture hydraulique, in four volumes (1737–53), covering engineering mechanics, mills and waterwheels, pumps, harbours, and sea works.

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