| César-François Cassini de Thury | |
|---|---|
César-François Cassini de Thury,
miniature watercolor on ivory by Jean-Marc Nattier |
|
| Born | 17 June 1714 Thury-sous-Clermont, (Oise) |
| Died | 4 September 1784 (aged 70) Paris |
| Nationality | French |
| Fields | Astronomy |
| Institutions | Paris Observatory |
| Known for | Topographical map of France |
César-François Cassini de Thury (17 June 1714 – 4 September 1784), also called Cassini III or Cassini de Thury, was a French astronomer and cartographer.
Cassini de Thury was born in Thury-sous-Clermont (Oise), the second son of Jacques Cassini and Suzanne Françoise Charpentier de Charmois. He was a grandson of Giovanni Domenico Cassini, and would become the father of Jean-Dominique Cassini, Conte de Cassini.
In 1735, he became a member of the French Academy of Sciences as a supernumerary adjunct astronomer, in 1741 as an adjunct astronomer, and in 1745 as a full member astronomer.
In January, 1751 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. [1]
He succeeded to his father’s official position in 1756 and continued the hereditary surveying operations. In 1744, he began the construction of a great topographical map of France, one of the landmarks in the history of cartography.[2]
The post of director of the Paris observatory was created for his benefit in 1771 when the establishment ceased to be a dependency of the French Academy of Sciences.
His chief works are: La méridienne de l’Observatoire Royal de Paris (1744), Description géometrique de la terre (1775), and Description géometrique de la France (1784), which was completed by his son.
César-François Cassini de Thury died of smallpox in Paris on 4 September 1784,
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.