Louis Couffignal
Encyclopedia
Louis Couffignal was a French
Mathematician
and Cybernetics
pioneer. He taught in schools in the southwest of Brittany
, then at the naval academy and, eventually, at the Buffon School.
He published a variety of notes at the Academy of Sciences, with a focus on using binary computation by machines to solve new problems. Following Leibniz, he promoted binary numbers as the basis of calculating machines. Couffignal received his Doctorate of Sciences in 1938 with his thesis on Mechanical Analysis, demonstrating applications for machines to calculate celestial mechanics. Couffignal took on an interest in Cybernetics, influenced by his meetings with Louis Lapicque
in 1941 and the cyberneticist Norbert Wiener
in 1946.
With Lapicque, Couffignal compared the functioning of the nervous system
and that of machines, as Wiener prepared his book Cybernetics, the book that established the foundations for the subject.
Between 1938 and 1960, Couffignal was the director of the Blaise Pascal Calculation Center. In 1945, he was named Inspector General of Public Teaching. In 1951, Couffignal prepared an international conference on thinking machines to bring together the greatest specialists in this new science, including Norbert Wiener
, W. Ross Ashby, Warren McCulloch, etc. as Inspector General, he created the first BTS teaching degree in France.
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...
Mathematician
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
and Cybernetics
Cybernetics
Cybernetics is the interdisciplinary study of the structure of regulatory systems. Cybernetics is closely related to information theory, control theory and systems theory, at least in its first-order form...
pioneer. He taught in schools in the southwest of Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, then at the naval academy and, eventually, at the Buffon School.
Biography
After joining the school, Couffignal hesitated to write a thesis on Symbolic Logic but after his meetings with Maurice d'Ocagne, he decided to focus on machines and on Mechanical Logic.He published a variety of notes at the Academy of Sciences, with a focus on using binary computation by machines to solve new problems. Following Leibniz, he promoted binary numbers as the basis of calculating machines. Couffignal received his Doctorate of Sciences in 1938 with his thesis on Mechanical Analysis, demonstrating applications for machines to calculate celestial mechanics. Couffignal took on an interest in Cybernetics, influenced by his meetings with Louis Lapicque
Louis Lapicque
Louis Lapicque was a French neuroscientist who was very influential in the early 20th century. One of his main contributions was to propose the integrate and fire model of the neuron in a seminal article published in 1907...
in 1941 and the cyberneticist Norbert Wiener
Norbert Wiener
Norbert Wiener was an American mathematician.A famous child prodigy, Wiener later became an early researcher in stochastic and noise processes, contributing work relevant to electronic engineering, electronic communication, and control systems.Wiener is regarded as the originator of cybernetics, a...
in 1946.
With Lapicque, Couffignal compared the functioning of the nervous system
Nervous system
The nervous system is an organ system containing a network of specialized cells called neurons that coordinate the actions of an animal and transmit signals between different parts of its body. In most animals the nervous system consists of two parts, central and peripheral. The central nervous...
and that of machines, as Wiener prepared his book Cybernetics, the book that established the foundations for the subject.
Between 1938 and 1960, Couffignal was the director of the Blaise Pascal Calculation Center. In 1945, he was named Inspector General of Public Teaching. In 1951, Couffignal prepared an international conference on thinking machines to bring together the greatest specialists in this new science, including Norbert Wiener
Norbert Wiener
Norbert Wiener was an American mathematician.A famous child prodigy, Wiener later became an early researcher in stochastic and noise processes, contributing work relevant to electronic engineering, electronic communication, and control systems.Wiener is regarded as the originator of cybernetics, a...
, W. Ross Ashby, Warren McCulloch, etc. as Inspector General, he created the first BTS teaching degree in France.
Publications
Couffignal has written several books and articles. A selection:- Les machines à calculer. Leurs principes. Leur évolution.
- 1952, Les machines à penser. Couffignal Éditions de Minuit.
- 1956, "Essai d’une définition générale de la cybernétique", The First International Congress on Cybernetics, Namur, Belgium, June 26-29, 1956, Gauthier-Villars, Paris, 1958, pp. 46-54
- 1968, Le dossier de la cybernétique -Marabout Université 1968
- 1972, La cybernétique et ses théoriciens - Delpech J.L Ed. Casterman.
- 1978, La cybernétique, Presses Universitaires France.
External links
- Louis Couffignal: Trait d'union entre bastide et cybernétique by Patrick Saint-Jean (French)