Descriptive Geometry in France: Circulation, Transformation, Recognition (1795–1905)

Abstract

Descriptive geometry had been taught by Monge in 1794–1795 in two schools: the Ecole polytechnique, intended for future engineers and officers, and the Ecole normale, intended for future teachers. Monge’s two proposals were preparatory teaching for various applications, but also a new teaching of geometry, which could follow (or replace) the ordinary Elements of geometry. In this chapter, our main goal is to examine the future of these two proposals in France. Indeed, the spirit of the first lessons given by Monge changed at the same time that descriptive geometry underwent a considerable dissemination into all French education and society. In relation to that dissemination, we examine the circulation of knowledge towards artists, craftsmen, and engineers. We investigate teaching given in the preparatory grades for the entrance examination to the Ecole polytechnique, to the Ecole centrale des arts et manufactures, and to other schools, and we analyze the process that led to teaching descriptive geometry at secondary level. We also examine the role of descriptive geometry in the teaching of geometry in the end of the nineteenth century.