DUHAMEL, Jean Baptiste, born in 1624 at Vire in Normandy, was the son of an eminent advocate. He commenced his studies at Caen, and completed them at Paris. At eighteen he wrote a treatise on the Spherics of Theodosius, and a tract on trigonometry, designed as an introduction to astronomy. In 1666, when Louis XIV., on the recommendation of Colbert, established the Royal Academy of Sciences, Duhamel was appointed perpetual secretary, a situation for which he was eminently qualified. He was preparing a history of the academy, when he was cut off in
the midst of his projects on the 6th of August 1706, at the age of eighty-two. He was a laborious student and a voluminous writer. He published numerous works on philosophy, divinity, and natural science.