CAMUS, (CHARLES STEPHEN Lawn) in biography, a celebrated French mathe matician, was born at Cressy en Brie, the 25th of August, 1699. His early ingenui ty in mechanics, and his own entreaties, induced his parents to send Lim to study at a college in Paris, at 10 years of age ; where, in the space of two years, his pro gress was so great, that he was able to give lessons in mathematics, and thus to defray his own expenses at the college, without any farther charge to his friends. By the assistance of the celebrated Va rignon, this youth soon ran through the course of the higher mathematics, and acTured a name among the learned. He made himself more particularly known to the Academy of Sciences in 1727, by his memoir upon the subject of the prize which they had proposed for that year, viz." To determine the most advantage ous way of masting ships ;" in conse qnence of which he was named, that year, Adjoint-Mechanician to the Academy ; and in 1730 he was appointed Professor of Architecture. In less than three years after he was honoured with the secreta ryship of the same ; and the 18th of A pril, 1733, he obtained the degree of As sociate in the Academy, where he distin guished himself greatly by his memoirs upon living forces, or bodies in motion acted upon by forces, on the figure of the teeth of wheels and pinions, on pump work, and several other ingenious me moirs.
Tn 1736 he was sent, in company with Messrs. Clairaut, Maupertuis, and Moo nier, upon the celebrated expedition to measure a degree at the north polar cir cle; in which he rendered himself high ly useful. not only as a mathematician, hut also as a mechanician and an artist, branches for which he had a remarkable talent.
Tn 1741, he invented a gaugingrod and sliding rule, by which the contents of all kinds of casks might he immediately as certained. lie was employed in works of importance in his own country, and elect ed Geometrician in the French Acade my. In 1765 he was chosen a Fellow of the Royal Society of London. On the 4th of May, 1768, he died, in his 69th year, and was succeeded in his office of Geo metrician to the Academy by D'Alem bert. His works are numerous, and of great reputation : the principal are," A Course of Mathematics," " Elements of Mechanics," and " Elements of Arithme tic."