Gaspard Monge - Career

Career

Those studying at the school were drawn from the aristocracy, so he was not allowed admission to the institution itself. His manual skill was highly regarded, but his mathematical skills were not made use of. Nevertheless he worked on the development of his ideas in his spare time. At this time came to contact with Charles Bossut, the professor of mathematics at the École Royale. "I was a thousand times tempted," he said long afterwards, "to tear up my drawings in disgust at the esteem in which they were held, as if I had been good for nothing better."

After a year at the École Royale Monge was asked to produce a plan for a fortification in such a way as to optimise its defensive arrangement. There was an established method for doing this which involved lengthy calculations but Monge devised a way of solving the problems by using drawings. At first his solution was not accepted, since it had not taken the time judged to be necessary, but upon examination the value of the work was recognized, and Monge's exceptional abilities were recognized.

After Bossut left the École Royale du Génie Monge took his place in January 1769, and in 1770 he was also appointed instructor in experimental physics.

In 1777, Monge married Cathérine Huart, who owned a forge. This caused Monge to develop an interest in metallurgy. In 1780 he became a member of the Académie; his friendship with C.L. Berthollet began at this time. In 1783, after leaving Mézières, he was, on the death of É. Bézout, appointed examiner of naval candidates. Although pressed by the minister to prepare a complete course of mathematics, he declined to do so, on the grounds that this would deprive Mme Bézout of her only income, that from the sale of the textbooks written by her late husband. In 1786 he wrote and published his Traité élémentaire de la statique.