CARRE', Louis, a celebrated French mathematician, was born at Clos-Fontaine, near Nangis, in Brie, on the 26th July, 1663. His father, who was a respectable farmer, having intended him for the church, young Carte prosecuted the study of theology for three years ; but, in consequence of his refusing to take orders, all his pe cuniary supplies were withheld, and lie was obliged to quit the university and seek for employment. In this situation, he was engaged as amanuensis to the celebrated Father Malebranche, under whom he acquired a know ledge of unthematics and metaphysics. After having filled this situation during seven years, he employed himself in teaching mathematics and philosophy at Paris. In this new employment he had several pupils of the Fair sex, for whose talents he seems to have entertained a very uncommon, or rather an extravagant degree of respect, when he estimated female genius as higher than that or the other sex. The language of Carte being ra ther unpolished and ungrammatical, one of his fair pu pils offered to give him lessons in French, in return for his philosophical instructions. Carte cheerfully accept ed the offer, and often acknowledged himself greatly in debted to the instructions which he then received.
The subject of metaphysics now occupied all the lei sure hours of Carve, and his mathematical studies were almost completely forgotten, till the 4th February 1699, when 1\1. Varignon admitted him as one of his Cleves in
the Academy of Sciences. This new office drew his at tention to mathematics, and in the year 1700 he publish ed, in quarto, a complete work on the integral calculus, entitled, Unc Methode pour In niesure des surfaces, la dimension des scales, leer centre de pesanteur, de per cussion, et iroscillation. This work reached a second edition, in which several errors were candidly acknow ledged and corrected.
On the Istli February 1702, 1\1. Caere was admitted Associate Mechanician, and on the 18th August 1706, he was promoted to the situation of Pensioner ; the emo luments of which enabled him to devote himself entirely to his studies, but particularly to the various branches of mechanics and natural philosophy. He composed trea tises on a great variety or physical subjects, all of which were bequeathed to the Academy of Sciences, though it does not appear that any of them have been published. In the forty-eighth year of his age, he was attacked with dyspepsia, which at last brought him to the grave, on the llth of April 1711.