Henri Pitot, the French hydraulic engineer, was born on 3rd May 1695 in Aramon, France.
Although he was actually not an aviation pioneer, the Pitot´s name is well known to literally all aviators, due to his famous invention, the so-called pitot tube.
Henri Pitot was, characteristically for scientists from that era, a person with many interests. He studied mathematics, astronomy and physics, was interested in mechanics and hydraulics, as well as carried out several developments of the country´s infrastructure – roads, bridges, fountains and aqueducts. Pitot´s most famous designs were Aqueduc de Saint-Clément near Montpellier and reconstruction of Pont du Gard, a bridge in Nîmes.
In 1732, when he was assigned the task of measuring the flow in the river Seine, he invented an instrument that became known as the Pitot tube. The initial Pitot´s tube was working on the principle of relationship between height of the fluid column to the square velocity of the fluid at inlet of the tube.
Henri Pitot died on 27th December 1771 in Aramon, aged 76.
Full story here.
Cover photo: portrait of Henri Pitot (source: Wikipedia, Public Domain)
