Borel Jacques
Contenu
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Nom
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Borel Jacques
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Date de naissance
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c. 1623
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Date de mort
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1689
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Lieu de naissance
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Villefranche de Rouergues, Aveyron
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Couverture temporelle
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2/2 17th century
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Biographie
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Optician and chemist, he was a member of the Académie Royale des Sciences from probably 16701 until his death. Although not a professional instrument-maker, he was noted for his production of lenses. Little is known of his life. He was born in Villefranche de Rouergues in the Aveyron where he married the daughter of a notary by whom he had one daughter. By 1664 at latest he had become known in scientific circles in Paris where he had some access to the group around Habert de Montmor, and was also a member of Bourdelot's academy. Since he was accused by Chérubin d'Orléans of having maintained the claim of Daniel Chorez (qv) to be the inventor of binocular telescopes it is possible that Borel was acquainted with Chorez shortly before his death in 1659. That he learnt something of lens-grinding from him may not be an unreasonable conjecture. Certainly it was as a lens-maker that Borel later gained a degree of notoriety even if his lenses were found inferior to those of Campani in a trial organised at the Paris Observatory in May 1673. Borel supplied lenses to the Académie des Sciences making a range of sizes with focal lengths from 10-12ft to 60-80ft, and special products with lengths of 150 and 200 ft. In 1675 he described to the Académie des Sciences an apparatus for supporting long telescopes.2 In c. 1680 he supplied the objective lenses for 18ft telescopes that would be taken on the expedition, sponsored by the Académie des Sciences, of Valin, Jean Deshays and Guillaume de Glos to Gorea and the West Indies in 1681/2.3 He was also in contact with the inven tor Jean de Hautefeuille (1647-1724) to whom he showed an objective lens of 7 or 8 lignes thickness which was effective except that what was seen, according to de Hautefeuille appeared to be in shadow or as if seen through a silk veil.4
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Notes biographiques
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1 OC vii 60.
2 Procès verbaux de l'Académie des Sciences vii, 16 February 1675 ff. 6r, 16r. For a detailed account of Borel see Chabbert I; Chabbert II.
3 Procès verbaux de l'Académie des Sciences ixbis f. 128v.
4 de Hautefeuille, Moyen de diminuer la longueur des lunetes d'aproche sans diminuer leur efet, Paris 1697, 4.
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Bibliographie
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Journal des Sçavans 6 July 1676 reprinted in Mémoires de l’Académie Royale des Sciences, x, 1730, 567-8.
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Adresse ; enseigne ; période ; source
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Louvre Paris
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Identifiant
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1172
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ark:/18469/1r6mr