| Authorised form of name | Reaumur; Rene-Antoine Ferchault de (1683 - 1757) |
| Other forms of name | Renatus Antonius de |
| Renatus Antonius |
| Other forms of surname | de Reaumur |
| Dates | 1683 - 1757 |
| Nationality | French |
| Place of birth | La Rochelle, France |
| Date of birth | 28 February 1683 |
| Place of death | Near St-Julien-du-Terroux, France |
| Date of death | 17 or 18 October 1757 |
| Research field | Mathematics |
| Technology |
| Natural history |
| Biology |
| Experimental physics |
| Activity | Asked in 1709 by the French government to find uses for spider silk, and demonstrated that it was useable for fabrics in the same manner as the silk of silkworms. Diligently collected the material from egg sacs of spiders, then had a large number of them washed, boiled and cleansed, then allowed to dry. Sacs were carded with fine combs and worked into slender thread of a pleasing grey colour. Two pairs of stockings and gloves made from this natural silk were presented to the 'Academie Royale des Sciences'. This accomplishment proved to be so sensational that in the following year the Academie commissioned Reamur to investigate the possibility of extensive uses of spider silk. After a thorough study however, he concluded that there was little likelihood that such spider silk as was available in Europe could become a profitable industry.
|
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 09/11/1738 |
| Source | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DSB
Notes:
BR and DSB give death date as 18 October 1757; the latter is also source of precise birth date |
| Virtual International Authority File | http://viaf.org/viaf/59144347 |
| Code | NA6798 |
Archives associated with this Fellow
| RefNo | Title | Date |
| L&P/1/236 | Letter, 'Concerning the return of de la Condamine and the explorers of Peru' from Rene-Antoine Ferchault de Reaumur to Martin Folkes | 17 December 1743 |
| LBO/24/3 | Copy letter from Rene Antoine de Reaumur, Paris, to the President | 1 August 1737 |
| L&P/2/132 | Letter, 'Of an earthquake on 11 Oct 1749' from Rene-Antoine Ferchault de Reaumur to the Royal Society | 23 April 1750 |
| L&P/1/183 | Letter, 'Gift of a copy of the 6th part of his History of Insects' from Rene-Antoine Ferchault de Reaumur to Martin Folkes | 26 January 1743 |
| L&P/1/403 | Letter, 'Of preserving birds; of magnets' from Rene-Antoine Ferchault de Reaumur to Martin Folkes | 4 May 1745 |
| EL/R2/46 | Letter, from Monsieur [Rene Antoine Ferchault] de Reaumur to Hans Sloane, dated at Paris | 1737 |
| EL/M3/47 | Translation of a letter, from Monsieur [René Antoine Ferchault] de Reaumur to Hans Sloane, dated at Paris | 1738 |
| L&P/1/150 | Paper, 'Sixth volume of the history of insects' by [René Antoine Ferchault de] Réaumur | 1742 |
| AP/5/14 | Unpublished observations, 'Osservazzioni del maggior freddo, e caldo degl'anni seguendi secondo il termometro di Mr Raymur' ['Observations of the great cold and heat of the following years according to Reaumur's thermometer'] by the Duke of Cotrofiano [Cutrofiano, Italy] | January 1779 - December 1783 |
| EL/R2/41 | Extract of a letter, from Monsieur [Rene Antoine Ferchault] de Reaumur to Hans Sloane, dated at Paris | 1734 |
| EL/R2/47 | Letter, from Monsieur [Rene Antoine Ferchault] de Reaumur to Hans Sloane, dated at Paris | 1737 |
| EC/1739/07 | Reaumur, Rene-Antoine Ferchault de: certificate of election to the Royal Society | 9 November 1738 |
| EL/M3/48 | Letter, from Monsieur [René Antoine Ferchault] de Reaumur to Cromwell Mortimer, dated at Paris | 1738 |