Louis-Sébastien Lenormand (May 25, 1757 – December 1837) was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 physicist

Physicist

A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...

, inventor and pioneer in parachuting

Parachute

A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...

. He is considered the first human to make a witnessed descent with a parachute and is also credited with coining the term parachute (from the Greek para

Para

Para may refer to:*Para Loga, one among the seven Logas in Ayyavazhi mythology*Para-quaternions, expression from algebra in mathematics*Paramedic is a first response ambulance crew member...

– "against", and French chute

Chute

A chute is a vertical or inclined plane, channel, or passage through which objects are moved by means of gravity.-Landform:A chute, also known as a race, flume, or river canyon, is a steep-sided passage through which water flows rapidly....

– "fall"). After making a jump from a tree with the help of two modified umbrellas Lenormand refined his contraption and on December 26, 1783 jumped from the tower of the Montpellier observatory

Observatory

An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed...

 in front of a crowd that included Joseph Montgolfier, using a 14 foot parachute with a rigid wooden frame. His intended use for the parachute was to help entrapped occupants of a burning building to escape unharmed. Lenormand was succeeded by André-Jacques Garnerin

André-Jacques Garnerin

André-Jacques Garnerin was the inventor of the frameless parachute. He was born in Paris.His early experiments were based on umbrella-shaped devices...

 who made the first jump from high altitude with the help of a non-rigid parachute.

Early life

Lenormand was born in Montpellier in 1757 as the son of a clockmaker. From 1775–80 he studied physics and chemistry

Chemistry

Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....

 under Lavoisier

Antoine Lavoisier

Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier , the "father of modern chemistry", was a French nobleman prominent in the histories of chemistry and biology...

 and Berthollet

Claude Louis Berthollet

Claude Louis Berthollet was a Savoyard-French chemist who became vice president of the French Senate in 1804.-Biography:...

 in Paris, where he also got involved with the administration of saltpeter

Potassium nitrate

Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with the formula KNO3. It is an ionic salt of potassium ions K+ and nitrate ions NO3−.It occurs as a mineral niter and is a natural solid source of nitrogen. Its common names include saltpetre , from medieval Latin sal petræ: "stone salt" or possibly "Salt...

. In this position he learned of the use of scientific and mathematical knowledge in the production of gunpowder

Gunpowder

Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...

. After returning to Montpellier he worked in his father's shop while immersing himself in the intellectual community of the city and starting his experiments with parachuting, inspired by the performance of a Thai

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

 equilibrist who used a parasol for balance. Before performing the public jump from the observatory tower, Lenormand tested his parachutes using animals.

Career as "professor of technology"

After this public demonstration Lenormand devoted himself to establishing the science of "pure technology

Technology

Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...

". To this end, he first became a Carthusian

Carthusian

The Carthusian Order, also called the Order of St. Bruno, is a Roman Catholic religious order of enclosed monastics. The order was founded by Saint Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns...

 monk, as the monastery in Saïx near Castres allowed him to continue his "profane" studies. When during the French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

 he had to renounce his priesthood and marry, he moved to Albi to teach technology at a college newly founded by his father-in-law. In 1803 he moved to Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 where he obtained a job at the excise office, part of the finance ministry. During his time at the excise office Lenormand started publishing in technology journals and filed patents for a paddle boat, a clock (successfully installed at the Paris Opera

Palais Garnier

The Palais Garnier, , is an elegant 1,979-seat opera house, which was built from 1861 to 1875 for the Paris Opera. It was originally called the Salle des Capucines because of its location on the Boulevard des Capucines in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, but soon became known as the Palais Garnier...

) and a public lighting system. When he was removed from his job in 1815, Lenormand got involved even more in publishing, first establishing the Annales de l’industrie nationale et étrangère (Annals of national and foreign industry") and the Mercure technologique, and, starting in 1822 and continuing until 1837, twenty-volumes of Dictionnaire technologique. During that time, he also published manuals on such diverse topic as foodstuff and bookbinding.

In 1830, Lenormand returned to Castres and, following the estrangement from his wife and her family, renounced his marriage and resumed his religious life as "Brother Chrysostom". He died in Castres in December 1837. In his death certificate, his profession was given as "professor of theology" as the term "technology" was still too new at the time.