Guillaume Legentil – a talented but very unlucky scientist (6 photos)

In order to achieve success in a certain business, hard work and perseverance are not enough. You need at least a little bit of luck. Otherwise, the project turns into complete trash.





Guillaume Joseph Hyacinthe Jean-Baptiste Legentil (1725-1792) belonged to a noble family, was supposed to become a minister of the church, was educated as a theologian and was preparing to be ordained. Suddenly I became very interested in science - mathematics and astronomy and changed my field of activity.



Guillaume Joseph Hyacinthe Jean-Baptiste Legentil

In 1761, Venus was supposed to pass across the disk of the Sun. This phenomenon is rare, it occurs cyclically - with an interval of twice every 8, then once every 105.5 years, then again once every 8 years and once every 121.5. Scientists calculated the ideal observation point so they could then use the data to calculate the exact distance from the Earth to the Sun.

The Indian city of Pondicherry, which at that time belonged to the French, became such a point. Legentille sailed there, but the city was captured by the British. The ship was unable to land on the shore, and the astronomer observed a rare phenomenon from its board.





Transit of Venus across the Sun

Such data made no sense. And the scientist decided to wait for the next transit of Venus. Guillaume spent 8 years studying the Indian islands. He compiled maps, collected data on the ethnographic composition, ebb and flow.

A year before the significant event, Pondicherry again passed to the French. And the astronomer spent the rest of his time studying the local flora and fauna. But at hour X, luck turned its back on the poor guy again. The calm, clear weather gave way to cloudy weather. The clouds cleared only two hours after the passage of Venus.

The researcher was crushed and abandoned the diary. And when I received a letter from colleagues from Manila, where the visibility of the phenomenon turned out to be excellent, I completely fell ill.



Pondicherry. Engraving by Guillaume Legentil

Legentille, upset by the failures, decided to return home. But his misadventures did not end there. The first ship was badly damaged by a storm and had to return. The captain of the next one refused to take the astronomer on board by order of the new commissioner.

As a result, only a year later, in 1771, the Spaniards agreed to deliver the wanderer to France. Taking as payment the lion's share of his collection of exhibits, collected over years of meticulous work.

He arrived in France only in October and faced new challenges. Relatives, due to his long absence, considered the scientist dead. His wife married someone else, and the place at the Academy of Sciences was taken. And most of the fortune was stolen by the heirs.



But Guillaume decided not to give up. He achieved reinstatement at the Academy, returned part of his property, and married again. And a few years later, the king himself, having heard about misadventures in the name of science, awarded him the title of academician - one of three astronomers at the Academy.



Crater Legentille

Of course, Legentil was very, very unlucky. And he became a kind of symbol of failure in the scientific community. But justice triumphed: the astronomer published several volumes of his studies of India, the Indian and Philippine Islands. A crater on the Moon was also named after him. And you must admit, not every person, not only a loser, but also a person who is successful in life and in science is awarded such an honor.