[Born at Nicorps, in France, 1730. Died 1816. Aged 86.]
In 1752, Duhamel visited the mines of the Pyrenees, and of various parts
of Germany, in order to collect information, his object being to
establish a School of Mines in his own country. But he had to wait
twenty years for the realization of his idea. As soon as it was carried
out, he received the appointment of Professor of Agriculture and
Metallurgy. He was a true practical philosopher, and his inventions and
discoveries were all of the highest use in the branch of science to the
development of which his life-long exertions had been directed.