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123-590: The Paris Observatory was founded in 1667..Construction was completed by the early 1670s and coincided with a major push for increased science, and the founding of the Royal Academy of Sciences . King Louis XIV's minister of finance organized a "scientific powerhouse" to increase understanding of astronomy, maritime navigation, and science in general. Through the centuries the Paris Observatory has continued in support of astronomical activities, and in

246-531: A 100,000-franc prize offered by Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe for the first person to make a flight from St. Cloud to the Eiffel Tower and back in less than half an hour. In 1910, Father Theodor Wulf measured radiant energy at the top and bottom of the tower. He found more at the top than expected, incidentally discovering what are known today as cosmic rays . Two years later, on 4 February 1912, Austrian tailor Franz Reichelt died after jumping from

369-410: A 600 step climb. Although there is a staircase to the top level, it is usually accessible only by lift. On this top, third level is a private apartment built for Gustave Eiffel's personal use. He decorated it with furniture by Jean Lachaise and invited friends such as Thomas Edison . The design of the Eiffel Tower is attributed to Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nouguier , two senior engineers working for

492-469: A 9 cm aperture Dollond telescope, and a telescope by Lerebours. One of the special telescopes in the collection of the observatory, was the Passy telescope of King Louis XV . This telescope was built by Dom Noel in the late 18th century, and was a reflecting telescope with a 61 cm aperture bronze mirror. In 1805 the mirror was re-polished, but it was tarnished again within two years; it remained at

615-415: A Henry astrograph with 13-inch objective was acquired. For the 1907 Transit of Mercury , some of the telescopes used at the Paris Observatory included: The telescopes were mobile and were placed on the terrace for the observations. The Meudon great refractor (Meudon 83-cm) is an 83 cm (33 in) aperture refractor, which, with September 20, 1909 observations by E. M. Antoniadi , helped disprove

738-417: A block of limestone with an inclined top to bear a supporting shoe for the ironwork. Each shoe was anchored to the stonework by a pair of bolts 10 cm (4 in) in diameter and 7.5 m (25 ft) long. The foundations were completed on 30 June, and the erection of the ironwork began. The visible work on-site was complemented by the enormous amount of exacting preparatory work that took place behind

861-585: A crucial role in intercepting enemy communications from Berlin. In 1914, French forces successfully launched a counter-attack during the Battle of the Marne after gaining critical intelligence on the German Army's movements. In 1917, the station intercepted a coded message between Germany and Spain that referenced 'Operative H-21.' This information contributed to the arrest, conviction, and execution of Mata Hari ,

984-420: A factory in the nearby Parisian suburb of Levallois-Perret and were first bolted together, with the bolts being replaced with rivets as construction progressed. No drilling or shaping was done on site: if any part did not fit, it was sent back to the factory for alteration. In all, 18,038 pieces were joined using 2.5 million rivets. At first, the legs were constructed as cantilevers , but about halfway to

1107-735: A financial crisis in France. Today the academy is one of five academies comprising the Institut de France . Its members are elected for life. Currently, there are 150 full members, 300 corresponding members, and 120 foreign associates. They are divided into two scientific groups: the Mathematical and Physical sciences and their applications and the Chemical , Biological , Geological and Medical sciences and their applications. The academy currently has five missions that it pursues. These being

1230-441: A force of 800 tonnes, and the legs were intentionally constructed at a slightly steeper angle than necessary, being supported by sandboxes on the scaffold. Although construction involved 300 on-site employees, due to Eiffel's safety precautions and the use of movable gangways, guardrails and screens, only one person died. The main structural work was completed at the end of March 1889 and, on 31 March, Eiffel celebrated by leading

1353-484: A global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognisable structures in the world. The tower received 5,889,000 visitors in 2022. The Eiffel Tower is the most visited monument with an entrance fee in the world: 6.91 million people ascended it in 2015. It was designated a monument historique in 1964, and was named part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site ("Paris, Banks of the Seine") in 1991. The tower

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1476-418: A group of government officials, accompanied by representatives of the press, to the top of the tower. Because the lifts were not yet in operation, the ascent was made by foot, and took over an hour, with Eiffel stopping frequently to explain various features. Most of the party chose to stop at the lower levels, but a few, including the structural engineer, Émile Nouguier, the head of construction, Jean Compagnon,

1599-497: A height of 300 m, or even 200 m for that matter, and many people believed it was impossible. These objections were an expression of a long-standing debate in France about the relationship between architecture and engineering. It came to a head as work began at the Champ de Mars: a "Committee of Three Hundred" (one member for each metre of the tower's height) was formed, led by the prominent architect Charles Garnier and including some of

1722-416: A letter of support written to Alphand, sardonically saying, "Judging by the stately swell of the rhythms, the beauty of the metaphors, the elegance of its delicate and precise style, one can tell this protest is the result of collaboration of the most famous writers and poets of our time", and he explained that the protest was irrelevant since the project had been decided upon months before, and construction on

1845-436: A nationalist poem in the shape of the tower (a calligram ) to express his feelings about the war against Germany. Today, it is widely considered to be a remarkable piece of structural art , and is often featured in films and literature. Work on the foundations started on 28 January 1887. Those for the east and south legs were straightforward, with each leg resting on four 2 m (6.6 ft) concrete slabs, one for each of

1968-595: A new site and facilities. It was built in 1891. In addition to these sites, the Marseilles Observatory became a branch of the Paris Observatory in 1863. In 1873, Marseilles Observatory detached from Paris Observatory. King Louis XIV purchased the land for his new observatory in March 1667. This provided a site for the activities of the Academy of Sciences near to the city of Paris. The original buildings

2091-540: A result of the Haitian Revolution , and required Haiti to pay the CIC and its partner nearly half of all taxes collected on exports, "effectively choking off the nation's primary source of income". According to The New York Times , "[at] a time when the [CIC] was helping finance one of the world's best-known landmarks, the Eiffel Tower, as a monument to French liberty, it was choking Haiti's economy, taking much of

2214-409: A supporter of the particle-theory of light, he looked for a way to disprove it. Poisson thought that he had found a flaw when he demonstrate that Fresnel's theory predicts that an on-axis bright spot would exist in the shadow of a circular obstacle, where there should be complete darkness according to the particle-theory of light. The Poisson spot is not easily observed in every-day situations and so it

2337-451: A variety of themes and challenges dealing with African development and covering a large field spectrum. Specifically higher education in sciences, and research practices in basic and applied sciences that deal with various aspects relevant to development (renewable energy, infectious diseases, animal pathologies, food resources, access to safe water, agriculture, urban health, etc.). The Academic Standing Committees and Working Parties prepare

2460-460: A year, and in 1957, the present radio aerial was added to the top. In 1964, the Eiffel Tower was officially declared to be a historical monument by the Minister of Cultural Affairs, André Malraux . A year later, an additional lift system was installed in the north pillar. According to interviews, in 1967, Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau negotiated a secret agreement with Charles de Gaulle for

2583-656: Is 330 metres (1,083 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building, and the tallest structure in Paris . Its base is square, measuring 125 metres (410 ft) on each side. During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to become the tallest human-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years until the Chrysler Building in New York City

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2706-456: Is a learned society , founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert , to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research . It was at the forefront of scientific developments in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, and is one of the earliest Academies of Sciences . Currently headed by Patrick Flandrin (President of the academy), it is one of

2829-677: Is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris , France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel , whose company designed and built the tower from 1887 to 1889. Locally nicknamed " La dame de fer " (French for "Iron Lady"), it was constructed as the centerpiece of the 1889 World's Fair , and to crown the centennial anniversary of the French Revolution . Although initially criticised by some of France's leading artists and intellectuals for its design, it has since become

2952-488: Is about two and a half degrees to the west." The architect of the Paris Observatory was Claude Perrault whose brother, Charles , was secretary to Jean-Baptiste Colbert and superintendent of public works. Optical instruments were supplied by Giuseppe Campani . Construction of the Observatory was completed in 1671, though the buildings were extended in 1730, 1810, 1834, 1850, and 1951. The last extension incorporates

3075-576: Is now a journal series with seven titles. The publications can be found on site of the French National Library . In 1818 the French Academy of Sciences launched a competition to explain the properties of light. The civil engineer Augustin-Jean Fresnel entered the competition by submitting a new wave theory of light . Siméon Denis Poisson , one of the members of the judging committee, studied Fresnel's theory in detail. Being

3198-575: The Crédit Industriel et Commercial (CIC), helped finance the construction of the Eiffel Tower. During the period of the tower's construction, the CIC was acquiring funds from predatory loans to the National Bank of Haiti , some of which went towards the financing of the tower. These loans were connected to an indemnity controversy that saw France force Haiti's government to financially compensate French slaveowners for lost income as

3321-528: The 1900 Exposition Universelle , the lifts in the east and west legs were replaced by lifts running as far as the second level constructed by the French firm Fives-Lille. These had a compensating mechanism to keep the floor level as the angle of ascent changed at the first level, and were driven by a similar hydraulic mechanism as the Otis lifts, although this was situated at the base of the tower. Hydraulic pressure

3444-484: The Arago equatorial telescope , was completed. This telescope was proposed by director François Arago in 1846. It was installed in the east tower and was made by Lerebours. This instrument is known to have conducted photometry measurements of Jupiter's moons (there were only four known at that time) in the late 1880s. In 1863 a large transit circle was installed, and in 1878 a meridian instrument. The transit circle of 1863

3567-539: The City of Paris . The city had planned to tear it down (part of the original contest rules for designing a tower was that it should be easy to dismantle) but as the tower proved to be valuable for many innovations in the early 20th century, particularly radio telegraphy , it was allowed to remain after the expiry of the permit, and from 1910 it also became part of the International Time Service. For

3690-472: The Compagnie des Établissements Eiffel . It was envisioned after discussion about a suitable centerpiece for the proposed 1889 Exposition Universelle , a world's fair to celebrate the centennial of the French Revolution . In May 1884, working at home, Koechlin made a sketch of their idea, described by him as "a great pylon, consisting of four lattice girders standing apart at the base and coming together at

3813-480: The International Time Bureau until its dissolution in 1987. It remains the source of legal time in France, using multiple atomic fountain clocks maintained by its SYRTE ( Sytèmes de Référence Temps Espace ) department. The Paris Observatory Library, which was founded in 1785, provides the researchers with documentation and preserves the ancient books, archives, and heritage collections of

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3936-509: The Mars canals theory. It is a double telescope completed in 1891, with a secondary 62 cm (24 in) aperture lens for photography. It was of the largest refracting telescopes in Europe and was active for a century until 1991. In the 21st century, it was renovated and supports public education and visitation. The Meudon refractor was built at Meudon Observatory . It is one of three sites of

4059-594: The Port Royal abbey , with the Paris meridian exactly bisecting the site north–south. The meridian line was used as a basis for navigation and would be used by French cartographers as their prime meridian for more than 200 years. The Paris Observatory predates by a few years the Royal Greenwich Observatory in England, which was founded in 1675. The English philosopher John Locke visited

4182-481: The ambient temperature , the top of the tower may shift away from the sun by up to 18 cm (7 in) due to thermal expansion of the metal on the side facing the sun. When it was built, Eiffel was accused of trying to create something artistic with no regard to the principles of engineering. However, Eiffel and his team were experienced bridge builders. In an interview with the newspaper Le Temps published on 14 February 1887, Eiffel said: Is it not true that

4305-442: The 20th century, in 1987, when the academy decided against the practice and to begin filling vacancies with people with new disciplines. This reform was not only aimed at further diversifying the disciplines under the academy, but also to help combat the internal aging of the academy itself. The academy was expected to remain apolitical, and to avoid discussion of religious and social issues. On 20 January 1699, Louis   XIV gave

4428-469: The 21st century connects multiple sites and organizations, supporting astronomy and science, past and present. Administratively, it is a grand établissement of the French Ministry of National Education , with a status close to that of a public university. Its missions include: It maintains a solar observatory at Meudon and a radio astronomy observatory at Nançay . It was also the home to

4551-445: The Champ de Mars. (A 300-metre tower was then considered a herculean engineering effort.) On 12 May, a commission was set up to examine Eiffel's scheme and its rivals, which, a month later, decided that all the proposals except Eiffel's were either impractical or lacking in details. After some debate about the exact location of the tower, a contract was signed on 8 January 1887. Eiffel signed it acting in his own capacity rather than as

4674-528: The Company its first rules. The academy received the name of Royal Academy of Sciences and was installed in the Louvre in Paris. Following this reform, the academy began publishing a volume each year with information on all the work done by its members and obituaries for members who had died. This reform also codified the method by which members of the academy could receive pensions for their work. The academy

4797-427: The Eiffel Tower began hosting a seasonal ice rink on the first level. A glass floor was installed on the first level during the 2014 refurbishment. The puddle iron (wrought iron) of the Eiffel Tower weighs 7,300 tonnes , and the addition of lifts, shops and antennae have brought the total weight to approximately 10,100 tonnes. As a demonstration of the economy of design, if the 7,300 tonnes of metal in

4920-743: The Haut Queyras ( Hautes Alpes département ). A coronograph was in operation there for ten years; the dome was moved there from the Perrault building of the Observatoire de Paris. Nowadays, the AstroQueyras amateur astronomy association operates the facility, using a 60 cm (24 in) telescope on loan from the Observatoire de Haute Provence . Numerous asteroids have been discovered there. Early telescopes were supplied by

5043-464: The King was recognized until its abolishment in 1793. Membership in the academy the exceeded 100 officially-recognised full members only in 1976, 310 years after the academy's inception in 1666. The membership increase came with a large-scale reorganization in 1976. Under this reorganization, 130 resident members, 160 correspondents, and 80 foreign associates could be elected. A vacancy opens only upon

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5166-873: The Louvre, the Dome of les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe, all of our humiliated monuments will disappear in this ghastly dream. And for twenty years   ... we shall see stretching like a blot of ink the hateful shadow of the hateful column of bolted sheet metal. Gustave Eiffel responded to these criticisms by comparing his tower to the Egyptian pyramids : "My tower will be the tallest edifice ever erected by man. Will it not also be grandiose in its way? And why would something admirable in Egypt become hideous and ridiculous in Paris?" These criticisms were also dealt with by Édouard Lockroy in

5289-692: The Meridian Room designed by Jean Prouvé . In 1671 Saturn's moon Iapetus was discovered from the observatory, followed by Rhea in 1672. The moons Dione and Tethys were also discovered from the observatory in 1684. In 1676 the staff concluded that light itself was travelling at a finite speed. The world's first national almanac, the Connaissance des temps , was published by the Observatory in 1679, using eclipses in Jupiter 's satellites to aid sea-farers in establishing longitude . In 1863,

5412-477: The Observatory until it was dismantled in 1841. A Lerebours telescope of 24.4 cm aperture was installed in 1823, at a cost of 14,500 Francs. In 1835 Arago used this telescope to observe the return of Halley's Comet that year. In 1837 the Gambey mural circle was installed, and also a transit instrument, also by Gambey. In 1857 a refracting telescope of 38 centimetres (14.96 in) aperture objective ,

5535-572: The Observatory was officially given for the first time to César-François Cassini de Thury by a Royal brevet dated November 12, 1771. However, the important role played by his grandfather and father in this institution during its first century actually gave them somewhat the role of Director. The observatory did not have a recognised Director until 1771, before that each member could do as they pleased. Sometimes Giovanni Cassini (1671–1712) and Jacques Cassini (1712–1756) are listed as "Directors" retrospectively. The same goes for François Arago, who also

5658-456: The Paris Observatory on 28 August 1677, which he recorded in his journal: "At the Observatory we saw the Moon in a twenty-two foot glass, and Jupiter, with his satellites, in the same. The most remote was on the east, and the other three on the west. We also saw Saturn and his ring, in a twelve-foot glass, and one of his satellites. Monsieur Cassini told me, that the declination of the needle at Paris

5781-498: The Paris Observatory; Meudon Observatory became part of the Paris Observatory in 1926. The Meudon Great refractor is the third largest astronomical refractor of its type in the world. The Meudon refractor is located in the Grande Coupole building, which was renovated in the early 2000s. French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences ( French : Académie des sciences , [akademi de sjɑ̃s] )

5904-546: The President of the City Council, and reporters from Le Figaro and Le Monde Illustré , completed the ascent. At 2:35 pm, Eiffel hoisted a large Tricolour to the accompaniment of a 25-gun salute fired at the first level. There was still work to be done, particularly on the lifts and facilities, and the tower was not opened to the public until nine days after the opening of the exposition on 6 May; even then,

6027-477: The Third class, into a new Second class concerned with literature and a new Third class devoted to the fine arts. Still this relationship between the academy and the government was not a one-way affair, as members expected to receive their payment of an honorarium. Although the academy still exists today, after World War I, the reputation and status of the academy was largely questioned. One factor behind its decline

6150-501: The academy was funded by and accountable to the Ministry of Public Instruction . The academy came to control French patent laws in the course of the eighteenth century, acting as the liaison of artisans' knowledge to the public domain. As a result, academicians dominated technological activities in France. The academy proceedings were published under the name Comptes rendus de l'Académie des Sciences (1835–1965). The Comptes rendus

6273-482: The academy was in 1944. Removal from the academy was often for not performing to standards, not performing at all, leaving the country, or political reasons. In some rare occasions, a member has been elected twice and subsequently removed twice. This is the case for Marie-Adolphe Carnot . The most direct involvement of the government in the affairs of the institute came in the initial nomination of members in 1795, but as its members nominated constituted only one third of

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6396-448: The academy with his hands-on vivisection experiments, could not get his study into its own category. Despite Magendie being one of the leading innovators of his time, it was still a battle for him to become an official member of the academy, a feat he would later accomplish in 1821. He further improved the reverence of the academy when he and anatomist Charles Bell produced the widely known " Bell-Magendie Law ". From 1795 until 1914,

6519-681: The advice notes, policy statements and the Academic Reports. Some have a statutory remit, such as the Select Committee, the Committee for International Affairs and the Committee for Scientists' Rights, some are created ad hoc by the academy and approved formally by vote in a members-only session. Today the academies standing committees and working parties include: Each year, the Academy of Sciences distributes about 80 prizes. These include: The following are incomplete lists of

6642-461: The aesthetic argument for the tower: "Do not the laws of natural forces always conform to the secret laws of harmony?" Some of the protesters changed their minds when the tower was built; others remained unconvinced. Guy de Maupassant supposedly ate lunch in the tower's restaurant every day because it was the one place in Paris where the tower was not visible. By 1918, it had become a symbol of Paris and of France after Guillaume Apollinaire wrote

6765-691: The applications of chemical, natural, biological, and medical sciences. On 8 August 1793, the National Convention abolished all the academies. On 22 August 1795, a National Institute of Sciences and Arts was put in place, bringing together the old academies of the sciences, literature and arts, among them the Académie française and the Académie des sciences. Also in 1795, The academy determined these 10 titles (first 4 in Division 1 and

6888-403: The death of members, as they serve for life. During elections, half of the vacancies are reserved for people less than 55 years old. This was created as an attempt to encourage younger members to join the academy. The reorganization also divided the academy into 2 divisions: One division, Division 1, covers the applications of mathematics and physical sciences, the other, Division 2, covers

7011-442: The encouraging of the scientific life, promoting the teaching of science, transmitting knowledge between scientific communities, fostering international collaborations, and ensuring a dual role of expertise and advise. The French Academy of Science originally focused its development efforts into creating a true co-development Euro-African program beginning in 1997. Since then they have broadened their scope of action to other regions of

7134-448: The exact difference of longitude between the two institutions. The Paris Observatory library preserves a great number of original works and letters of the Observatory and well known astronomers. The entire collection has been inventoried in an online archive called Calames. Some of the work is now digitized on the digital library such as those of Johannes Hevelius , Jérôme Lalande and Joseph-Nicolas Delisle . The title of Director of

7257-399: The eyes of the observer the boldness of the design as a whole. He used graphical methods to determine the strength of the tower and empirical evidence to account for the effects of wind, rather than a mathematical formula. Close examination of the tower reveals a basically exponential shape. All parts of the tower were overdesigned to ensure maximum resistance to wind forces. The top half

7380-482: The famed craftsman Giuseppe Campani. Cassini, an astronomer who worked in the early days of the Observatory, had used Campani's telescopes in the 1660s, and continued to do so when he moved to the Paris Observatory. The Marly tower, moved to the observatory in 1685 for mounting telescopes, was demolished in 1705. The Marly tower was originally made for the Versailles water supply system (see Machine de Marly ), but

7503-400: The famous spy accused of working for Germany. From 1925 to 1934, illuminated signs for Citroën adorned three of the tower's sides, making it the tallest advertising space in the world at the time. In April 1935, the tower was used to make experimental low-resolution television transmissions, using a shortwave transmitter of 200 watts power. On 17 November, an improved 180-line transmitter

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7626-478: The first and second levels. The top level's upper platform is 276 m (906 ft) above the ground—the highest observation deck accessible to the public in the European Union . Tickets can be purchased to ascend by stairs or lift to the first and second levels. The climb from ground level to the first level is over 300 steps, as is the climb from the first level to the second, making the entire ascent

7749-399: The first level construction was paused to create a substantial timber scaffold . This renewed concerns about the structural integrity of the tower, and sensational headlines such as "Eiffel Suicide!" and "Gustave Eiffel Has Gone Mad: He Has Been Confined in an Asylum" appeared in the tabloid press. Multiple famous artists of that time, Charles Garnier and Alexander Dumas , thought poorly of

7872-514: The first level of the tower (a height of 57 m) to demonstrate his parachute design. In 1914, at the outbreak of World War I , a radio transmitter located in the tower jammed German radio communications, seriously hindering their advance on Paris and contributing to the Allied victory at the First Battle of the Marne . During World War I , the Eiffel Tower's wireless station played

7995-401: The first world war, the French Academy of Science was the most prevalent organization of French science. Almost all the old members of the previously abolished Académie were formally re-elected and retook their ancient seats. Among the exceptions was Dominique, comte de Cassini , who refused to take his seat. Membership in the academy was not restricted to scientists: in 1798 Napoleon Bonaparte

8118-492: The five Academies of the Institut de France . The Academy of Sciences traces its origin to Colbert's plan to create a general academy. He chose a small group of scholars who met on 22 December 1666 in the King's library, near the present-day Bibliothèque Nationale , and thereafter held twice-weekly working meetings there in the two rooms assigned to the group. The first 30 years of the academy's existence were relatively informal, since no statutes had as yet been laid down for

8241-566: The government refused to accept the result of academy elections. The academies control by the government was apparent in 1803, when Bonaparte decided on a general reorganization. His principal concern was not the First class but the Second, which included political scientists who were potential critics of his government. Bonaparte abolished the second class completely and, after a few expulsions, redistributed its remaining members, together with those of

8364-559: The greatest respect and admiration for all Engineers including the Great Engineer the Bon Dieu, Thomas Edison. Eiffel made use of his apartment at the top of the tower to carry out meteorological observations , and also used the tower to perform experiments on the action of air resistance on falling bodies. Eiffel had a permit for the tower to stand for 20 years. It was to be dismantled in 1909, when its ownership would revert to

8487-417: The guides for the lifts which were to be fitted in the four legs. The critical stage of joining the legs at the first level was completed by the end of March 1888. Although the metalwork had been prepared with the utmost attention to detail, provision had been made to carry out small adjustments to precisely align the legs; hydraulic jacks were fitted to the shoes at the base of each leg, capable of exerting

8610-484: The hitherto untouched beauty of Paris, protest with all our strength, with all our indignation in the name of slighted French taste, against the erection   ... of this useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower   ... To bring our arguments home, imagine for a moment a giddy, ridiculous tower dominating Paris like a gigantic black smokestack, crushing under its barbaric bulk Notre Dame, the Tour Saint-Jacques,

8733-485: The hour. The lights sparkled blue for several nights to herald the new millennium on 31 December 2000. The sparkly lighting continued for 18 months until July 2001. The sparkling lights were turned on again on 21 June 2003, and the display was planned to last for 10 years before they needed replacing. The tower received its 200,000,000th guest on 28 November 2002. The tower has operated at its maximum capacity of about 7 million visitors per year since 2003. In 2004,

8856-418: The institution. In contrast to its British counterpart , the academy was founded as an organ of government. In Paris, there were not many membership openings, to fill positions there were contentious elections. The election process was at least a 6-stage process with rules and regulations that allowed for chosen candidates to canvas other members and for current members to consider postponing certain stages of

8979-486: The institution. Many collections are available online. The Paris Observatory was proposed in 1665-1666 by the French Academy of Sciences , which had recently been founded by the Minister of Finance Jean-Baptiste Colbert . In 1666, King Louis XIV authorized the building of the Observatory. On Midsummer's Day 1667, members of the Academy of Sciences traced the future building's outline on a plot outside town near

9102-404: The lifts had not been completed. The tower was an instant success with the public, and nearly 30,000 visitors made the 1,710-step climb to the top before the lifts entered service on 26 May. Tickets cost 2 francs for the first level, 3 for the second, and 5 for the top, with half-price admission on Sundays, and by the end of the exhibition there had been 1,896,987 visitors. After dark, the tower

9225-457: The membership and most of these had previously been elected as members of the respective academies under the old regime, few objections were raised. Moreover, these nominated members were then completely free to nominate the remaining members of the institute. Members expected to remain such for life, but interference occurred in a few cases where the government suddenly terminated membership for political reasons. The other main interference came when

9348-471: The most important figures of the arts, such as William-Adolphe Bouguereau , Guy de Maupassant , Charles Gounod and Jules Massenet . A petition called "Artists against the Eiffel Tower" was sent to the Minister of Works and Commissioner for the Exposition, Adolphe Alphand , and it was published by Le Temps on 14 February 1887: We, writers, painters, sculptors, architects and passionate devotees of

9471-433: The newly made tower. Charles Garnier thought it was a "truly tragic street lamp". Alexander Dumas said that it was like "Odius shadow of the odious column built of rivets and iron plates extending like a black blot". There were multiple protests over the style and the reasoning of placing it in the middle of Paris. At this stage, a small "creeper" crane designed to move up the tower was installed in each leg. They made use of

9594-632: The observatory published the first modern weather maps . In 1882, a 33 cm (13 in) astrographic lens was constructed, an instrument that catalysed what proved to be the over-ambitious international Carte du Ciel project. In November 1913, the observatory used the Eiffel Tower as an antenna , exchanged sustained radio signals with the United States Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. to determine

9717-407: The officers of the academy. See also Category:Officers of the French Academy of Sciences . For a list of the academy's members past and present, see Category:Members of the French Academy of Sciences Source: French Academy of Sciences Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( / ˈ aɪ f əl / EYE -fəl ; French : Tour Eiffel [tuʁ ɛfɛl] )

9840-642: The order. On 25 August, before the Germans had been driven out of Paris , the German flag was replaced with a Tricolour by two men from the French Naval Museum , who narrowly beat three men led by Lucien Sarniguet, who had lowered the Tricolour on 13 June 1940 when Paris fell to the Germans. A fire started in the television transmitter on 3 January 1956, damaging the top of the tower. Repairs took

9963-424: The original water hydraulics were retained solely as a counterbalance system. A service lift was added to the south pillar for moving small loads and maintenance personnel three years later. Robert Moriarty flew a Beechcraft Bonanza under the tower on 31 March 1984. In 1987, A. J. Hackett made one of his first bungee jumps from the top of the Eiffel Tower, using a special cord he had helped develop. Hackett

10086-535: The others in Division 2) to be their newly accepted branches of scientific study: The last two sections are bundled since there were many good candidates fit to be elected for those practices, and the competition was stiff. Some individuals like Francois Magendie had made stellar advancements in their selected fields of study, that warranted a possible addition of new fields. However, even someone like Magendie that had made breakthroughs in Physiology and impressed

10209-403: The principal girders of each leg. The west and north legs, being closer to the river Seine , were more complicated: each slab needed two piles installed by using compressed-air caissons 15 m (49 ft) long and 6 m (20 ft) in diameter driven to a depth of 22 m (72 ft) to support the concrete slabs, which were 6 m (20 ft) thick. Each of these slabs supported

10332-414: The process if the need would arise. Elections in the early days of the academy were important activities, and as such made up a large part of the proceedings at the academy, with many meetings being held regarding the election to fill a single vacancy within the academy. That is not to say that discussion of candidates and the election process as a whole was relegated to the meetings. Members that belonged to

10455-404: The public between November and March because the water in the hydraulic drive tended to freeze. The new cars operate in pairs, with one counterbalancing the other, and perform the journey in one stage, reducing the journey time from eight minutes to less than two minutes. At the same time, two new emergency staircases were installed, replacing the original spiral staircases. In 1983, the south pillar

10578-428: The representative of his company, the contract granting him 1.5 million francs toward the construction costs: less than a quarter of the estimated 6.5 million francs. Eiffel was to receive all income from the commercial exploitation of the tower during the exhibition and for the next 20 years. He later established a separate company to manage the tower, putting up half the necessary capital himself. A French bank,

10701-527: The rights to the patent on the design which Koechlin, Nouguier, and Sauvestre had taken out, and the design was put on display at the Exhibition of Decorative Arts in the autumn of 1884 under the company name. On 30 March 1885, Eiffel presented his plans to the Société des Ingénieurs Civils ; after discussing the technical problems and emphasising the practical uses of the tower, he finished his talk by saying

10824-497: The scenes: the drawing office produced 1,700 general drawings and 3,629 detailed drawings of the 18,038 different parts needed. The task of drawing the components was complicated by the complex angles involved in the design and the degree of precision required: the position of rivet holes was specified to within 1 mm (0.04 in) and angles worked out to one second of arc . The finished components, some already riveted together into sub-assemblies, arrived on horse-drawn carts from

10947-426: The structure were melted down, it would fill the square base, 125 metres (410 ft) on each side, to a depth of only 6.25 cm (2.46 in) assuming the density of the metal to be 7.8 tonnes per cubic metre. Additionally, a cubic box surrounding the tower (324 m × 125 m × 125 m) would contain 6,200 tonnes of air, weighing almost as much as the iron itself. Depending on

11070-457: The top, joined together by metal trusses at regular intervals". Eiffel initially showed little enthusiasm, but he did approve further study, and the two engineers then asked Stephen Sauvestre , the head of the company's architectural department, to contribute to the design. Sauvestre added decorative arches to the base of the tower, a glass pavilion to the first level, and other embellishments. The new version gained Eiffel's support: he bought

11193-482: The tower lost the title of the world's tallest structure when the Chrysler Building in New York City was completed. In 1938, the decorative arcade around the first level was removed. Upon the German occupation of Paris in 1940, the lift cables were cut by the French. The tower was restricted to German visitors during the occupation and the lifts were not repaired until 1946. In 1940, German soldiers had to climb

11316-444: The tower to be dismantled and temporarily relocated to Montreal to serve as a landmark and tourist attraction during Expo 67 . The plan was allegedly vetoed by the company operating the tower out of fear that the French government could refuse permission for the tower to be restored in its original location. In 1982, the original lifts between the second and third levels were replaced after 97 years in service. These had been closed to

11439-533: The tower to hoist a swastika-centered Reichskriegsflagge , but the flag was so large it blew away just a few hours later, and was replaced by a smaller one. When visiting Paris, Hitler chose to stay on the ground. When the Allies were nearing Paris in August 1944, Hitler ordered General Dietrich von Choltitz , the military governor of Paris, to demolish the tower along with the rest of the city. Von Choltitz disobeyed

11562-501: The tower was already under way. Garnier was a member of the Tower Commission that had examined the various proposals, and had raised no objection. Eiffel pointed out to a journalist that it was premature to judge the effect of the tower solely on the basis of the drawings, that the Champ de Mars was distant enough from the monuments mentioned in the protest for there to be little risk of the tower overwhelming them, and putting

11685-458: The tower would symbolise [n]ot only the art of the modern engineer, but also the century of Industry and Science in which we are living, and for which the way was prepared by the great scientific movement of the eighteenth century and by the Revolution of 1789, to which this monument will be built as an expression of France's gratitude. Little progress was made until 1886, when Jules Grévy

11808-430: The tower. During the last three minutes of the year, the lights were turned on starting from the base of the tower and continuing to the top to welcome 2000 with a huge fireworks show. An exhibition above a cafeteria on the first floor commemorates this event. The searchlights on top of the tower made it a beacon in Paris's night sky, and 20,000 flashing bulbs gave the tower a sparkly appearance for five minutes every hour on

11931-447: The vacancy's respective field would continue discussion of potential candidates for the vacancy in private. Being elected into the academy did not necessarily guarantee being a full member, in some cases, one would enter the academy as an associate or correspondent before being appointed as a full member of the academy. The election process was originally only to replace members from a specific section. For example, if someone whose study

12054-471: The very conditions which give strength also conform to the hidden rules of harmony?   ... Now to what phenomenon did I have to give primary concern in designing the Tower? It was wind resistance. Well then! I hold that the curvature of the monument's four outer edges, which is as mathematical calculation dictated it should be   ... will give a great impression of strength and beauty, for it will reveal to

12177-449: The wave-nature of light. For three centuries women were not allowed as members of the academy. This meant that many women scientists were excluded, including two-time Nobel Prize winner Marie Curie , Nobel winner Irène Joliot-Curie , mathematician Sophie Germain , and many other deserving women scientists. The first woman admitted as a correspondent member was a student of Curie's, Marguerite Perey , in 1962. The first female full member

12300-518: The world. The standing committee COPED is in charge of the international development projects undertaken by the French Academy of Science and their associates. The current president of COPED is Pierre Auger , the vice president is Michel Delseny , and the honorary president is Francois Gros . All of which are current members of the French Academy of Science. COPED has hosted several workshops or colloquia in Paris, involving representatives from African academies, universities or research centers, addressing

12423-401: The young nation's income back to Paris and impairing its ability to start schools, hospitals and the other building blocks of an independent country." The proposed tower had been a subject of controversy, drawing criticism from those who did not believe it was feasible and those who objected on artistic grounds. Prior to the Eiffel Tower's construction, no structure had ever been constructed to

12546-464: Was Yvonne Choquet-Bruhat in 1979. Membership in the academy is highly geared towards representing common French populace demographics . French population increases and changes in the early 21st century led to the academy expanding reference population sizes by reform in the early 2002. The overwhelming majority of members leave the academy posthumously, with a few exceptions of removals, transfers, and resignations. The last member to be removed from

12669-484: Was an attraction at the exposition) and Thomas Edison . Eiffel invited Edison to his private apartment at the top of the tower, where Edison presented him with one of his phonographs , a new invention and one of the many highlights of the exposition. Edison signed the guestbook with this message: To M Eiffel the Engineer the brave builder of so gigantic and original specimen of modern Engineering from one who has

12792-556: Was arrested by the police. On 27 October 1991, Thierry Devaux, along with mountain guide Hervé Calvayrac, performed a series of acrobatic figures while bungee jumping from the second floor of the tower. Facing the Champ de Mars, Devaux used an electric winch between figures to go back up to the second floor. When firemen arrived, he stopped after the sixth jump. For its "Countdown to the Year 2000" celebration on 31 December 1999, flashing lights and high-powered searchlights were installed on

12915-475: Was assumed to have no gaps in the latticework. After it was completed, some have put forward various mathematical hypotheses in an attempt to explain the success of the design. A one devised in 2004 after letters sent by Eiffel to the French Society of Civil Engineers in 1885 were translated into English described it as a non-linear integral equation based on counteracting the wind pressure on any point of

13038-413: Was designed by Claude Perrault. A dome and terrace was added in 1847. The Meudon site was constructed in the late 19th century by Jules Janssen , one of the discoverers of helium . With a million francs and permission to build on the ruins of the old royal palace, he constructed one of the grandest observatories of its day, with a focus on astronomy and solar physics. After World War I, the observatory

13161-520: Was elected a member of the academy and three years later a president in connection with his Egyptian expedition , which had a scientific component. In 1816, the again renamed "Royal Academy of Sciences" became autonomous, while forming part of the Institute of France ; the head of State became its patron. In the Second Republic , the name returned to Académie des sciences. During this period,

13284-509: Was established in 1953, and by the late 1950s several radio instruments were established. In 1965 the Nançay radio telescope was established, a design equivalent to an almost 100-metre dish. Also known as the Observatoire du Pic de Château Renard, the Observatoire de Saint-Véran was built in 1974 on top of the Pic de Château Renard (2,900 m or 9,500 ft), in the commune of Saint-Véran in

13407-594: Was finished in 1930. It was the first structure in the world to surpass both the 200-metre and 300-metre mark in height. Due to the addition of a broadcasting aerial at the top of the tower in 1957, it is now taller than the Chrysler Building by 5.2 metres (17 ft). Excluding transmitters, the Eiffel Tower is the second tallest free-standing structure in France after the Millau Viaduct . The tower has three levels for visitors, with restaurants on

13530-467: Was fitted with an electrically driven Otis lift to serve the Jules Verne restaurant. The Fives-Lille lifts in the east and west legs, fitted in 1899, were extensively refurbished in 1986. The cars were replaced, and a computer system was installed to completely automate the lifts. The motive power was moved from the water hydraulic system to a new electrically driven oil-filled hydraulic system, and

13653-472: Was installed. On two separate but related occasions in 1925, the con artist Victor Lustig "sold" the tower for scrap metal. A year later, in February 1926, pilot Leon Collet was killed trying to fly under the tower. His aircraft became entangled in an aerial belonging to a wireless station. A bust of Gustave Eiffel by Antoine Bourdelle was unveiled at the base of the north leg on 2 May 1929. In 1930,

13776-591: Was integrated with the nearby Paris Observatory and became an important campus for that observatory. Even into the 21st century solar observations are conducted at the Meudon site, and the preserved Great Refractor (Grande lunette) and astronomical gardens overlooking the city of Paris have delighted visitors for decades. The site includes: After the Second World War, French astronomers began designing and building instruments for radio astronomy. A field station

13899-440: Was lit by hundreds of gas lamps, and a beacon sent out three beams of red, white and blue light. Two searchlights mounted on a circular rail were used to illuminate various buildings of the exposition. The daily opening and closing of the exposition were announced by a cannon at the top. On the second level, the French newspaper Le Figaro had an office and a printing press, where a special souvenir edition, Le Figaro de la Tour ,

14022-426: Was made by Secretan and Eichens. In 1875 a 120 cm aperture silver-on-glass reflecting telescope was built, for 400,000 francs (the French unit of currency at that time). This 120 cm diameter aperture telescope was a silvered glass mirror polished by Martin. However, when it was mounted it was realized the gravity altered its shape because of the mirror's weight, thus causing an image quality issue. In 1886

14145-519: Was made. At the top, there was a post office where visitors could send letters and postcards as a memento of their visit. Graffitists were also catered for: sheets of paper were mounted on the walls each day for visitors to record their impressions of the tower. Gustave Eiffel described the collection of responses as "truly curious". Famous visitors to the tower included the Prince of Wales , Sarah Bernhardt , "Buffalo Bill" Cody (his Wild West show

14268-439: Was mathematics was either removed or resigned from his position, the following election process nominated only those whose focus was also mathematics in order to fill that discipline's vacancy. That led to some periods of time in which no specialists for specific fields of study could be found, which left positions in those fields vacant since they could not be filled with people in other disciplines. The needed reform came late in

14391-462: Was moved to the southern gardens area near the Paris Observatory. The tower could hold the objective lens for extremely long focal length aerial telescopes. In 1732 a quadrant instrument made by Langlois was established at the Observatory. In 1804 a telescope of 8.4 cm aperture, made by Bellet, was established on the roof of the observatory. In 1807 a Short reflector telescope was acquired, and there were several instruments available including

14514-474: Was not actually a Director although he did have a de facto position of leadership and is often credited as such. The current President of the Observatory is Fabienne Casoli . The first site was the Paris headquarters established in 1667 by King Louis XIV of France. This facility had various work done on it over the centuries, and in 1927 the Meudon Observatory was added, which included

14637-452: Was only natural for Poisson to interpret it as an absurd result and that it should disprove Fresnel's theory. However, the head of the committee, Dominique-François-Jean Arago , and who incidentally later became Prime Minister of France, decided to perform the experiment in more detail. He molded a 2-mm metallic disk to a glass plate with wax. To everyone's surprise he succeeded in observing the predicted spot, which convinced most scientists of

14760-443: Was originally organized by the royal reform hierarchically into the following groups: Pensionaires, Pupils, Honoraires, and Associés. The reform also added new groups not previously recognized, such as Vétéran. Some of these role's member limits were expanded and some roles even removed or combined throughout the course of academy's history. The Honoraires group establish by this reform in 1699 whose members were directly appointed by

14883-439: Was provided by pressurised accumulators located near this mechanism. At the same time the lift in the north pillar was removed and replaced by a staircase to the first level. The layout of both first and second levels was modified, with the space available for visitors on the second level. The original lift in the south pillar was removed 13 years later. On 19 October 1901, Alberto Santos-Dumont , flying his No.6 airship , won

15006-437: Was re-elected as president of France and Édouard Lockroy was appointed as minister for trade. A budget for the exposition was passed and, on 1 May, Lockroy announced an alteration to the terms of the open competition being held for a centrepiece to the exposition, which effectively made the selection of Eiffel's design a foregone conclusion, as entries had to include a study for a 300 m (980 ft) four-sided metal tower on

15129-463: Was the development from a meritocracy to gerontocracy : a shift from those with demonstrated scientific ability leading the academy to instead favoring those with seniority. It became known as a sort of "hall of fame" that lost control, real and symbolic, of the professional scientific diversity in France at the time. Another factor was that in the span of five years, 1909 to 1914, funding to science faculties considerably dropped, eventually leading to

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