Alembert, Jean Le Rond D'

(born , Nov. 17, 1717, Paris, France—died Oct. 29, 1783, Paris) French mathematician, scientist, philosopher, and writer.

In 1743 he published a treatise on dynamics containing “d'Alembert's principle,” relating to Isaac Newton's laws of motion. He developed partial differential equations and published findings of his research on integral calculus. He was associated with the Encyclopédie of Denis Diderot from &circa; 1746 as editor of its mathematical and scientific articles; he contributed articles on music as well, and he also published treatises on acoustics. He was elected to the Académie Française in 1754.