CAQUOT

FRANCE (see also List of Individuals)

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1.7.1881 Vouziers/F - 28.11.1976 Paris/F

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Albert Caquot was one of the most brilliant French engineers. After having gone through the standard education at Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées, he joined army in 1903 as an aeronautical soldier. Instead of practicing his profession, Caquot started then lecturing at the Grandes Ecoles of Paris, and worked mainly in elasticity and resistance of materials. During World War I, when Caquot served as a captain of an air-bound company, he realized at once that the by then used captive balloons were highly unstable, and Caquot improved their stability with inflatable tail units. "Caquot balloons" were mounted also on war ships and rendered significant assistance in surveillance and enemy detection. Caquot thus finally was appointed head of the technical aviation division.

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Back in peace times, Caquot was an indefatigable creator, with constructions on soil, in the sea and in the air. Using new concrete types, he was able to finish works that had a much better aging quality. He was particularly interested in difficult soil conditions, mainly of the alluvial type. He also was keen in working with structures surrounded by water, such as ports and dams. From 1928 he was the general technical director of the Air Ministry and thus founded various academic institutes and laboratories devoted to fluid flow. He was elected Member of Académie des Sciences in 1934 which he presided in the year 1952. He was awarded the Grand Cross of Légion d'Honneur, among a variety of other distinctions.

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_{Anonymous (1936). Albert Caquot. Dictionnaire nationale des contemporains: 136, N. Imbert, ed. Lajeunesse: Paris. P}

_{Anonymous (1976). Albert Caquot. Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Paris, Vie académique 283: 75-77.}

_{Caquot, A. (1956). Traité de mécanique des sols. Gauthier-Villars: Paris.}

_{Courbon, J., Grelot, L., Caquot, A. (1955). Cours de résistance des matériaux. Dunod: Paris. Demtchenko, B. (1953). Régulation hydraulique d'alimentation des turbomachines, préface de}

_{M. A. Caquot. Publications scientifiques et techniques du Ministère de l'Air 277. Paris. Lesourne, J. (1994). Caquot. Les polytechniciens dans le siècle 1894-1994: 325. Dunod: Paris. P Paoli, R. (1993). Albert Caquot. La Jaune et la Rouge 489: 35-40. P}

_{Roy, M. (1977). Notice nécrologique sur Albert Caquot, Membre de la Section des Sciences mécaniques. Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Paris, Vie académique 284: 29-37; see also La Jaune et la Rouge 318: 33-35. P}