List of French inventions and discoveries
Wikimedia list article
Throughout its history, France has made numerous contributions to scientific and technological development. Royal patronage and the establishment of academic institutions under the monarchy helped early scientific inquiry. The Age of Enlightenment, with its emphasis on reason and empirical observation, aided this progress. The French Revolution caused periods of instability; however, its era saw developments such as the standardization of the metric system. Pioneering contributions include the work of Nicéphore Niépce and Louis Daguerre in photography, Clément Ader's early unsuccessful attempts at powered flight, foundational research in nuclear physics by Henri Becquerel and Marie Curie, and Louis Pasteur's work in microbiology and immunology. This list presents selected examples.
Arts and entertainment
Gothic art in the mid-12th century.
Ars nova: a musical style which flourished in the Kingdom of France and its surroundings during the Late Middle Ages.
Oboe, or hautbois, in the mid-17th century France, probably by Jacques-Martin Hotteterre and his family or by the Philidor family. Variants of the oboe like the graïle, the bombard and the piston were later created in Languedoc and Brittany.
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