Rudolf Diesel was a German mechanical engineer and inventor best remembered for inventing the Diesel engine. After Diesel's demise, his engine became an important substitution for the steam piston engine. The engine became widespread in applications, such as agricultural machines, submarines, ships, and trucks. His life inspired the 1942 biographical film Diesel, in which he was played by Willy Birgel.
![Louis Le Prince Louis Le Prince](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/louis-le-prince-10030-1.jpg)
Louis Le Prince was a French inventor and artist. He is credited with inventing an early motion-picture camera and is often referred to as the Father of Cinematography. However, Louis Le Prince's work failed to influence the commercial development of motion picture because of the secrecy surrounding his invention.
![Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/nicolas-joseph-cugnot-17561-1.jpg)
Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot was a French inventor best remembered for building the Fardier à vapeur, the world's first automobile. Fardier à vapeur was the first working self-propelled mechanical land-vehicle. Built in 1769, the vehicle accidentally knocked down a stone or brick wall in 1771, an incident which is widely regarded as the first known automobile accident in the world.
![Louis Blériot Louis Blériot](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/louis-blriot-16753-1.jpg)
Louis Blériot was a French aviator, engineer, and inventor. He is credited with developing the first workable headlamp for cars. He is also credited with making the first working, piloted monoplane. Blériot achieved worldwide fame in 1909 when he became the first person to fly across the English Channel. Louis Blériot also founded the successful aircraft manufacturing company, Blériot Aéronautique.
![Jacques Charles Jacques Charles](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/jacques-charles-1.jpg)
Best known for developing the Charles’s law, which explains the expansion of gases when heated, Jacques Charles was a prominent French physicist. He was the first to ascend in a hydrogen-filled gas balloon, thus pioneering hot-air balloon flight. The Académie des Sciences member later became a professor of physics.
![Joseph Marie Jacquard Joseph Marie Jacquard](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/joseph-marie-jacquard-16659-1.jpg)
![Franz Reichelt Franz Reichelt](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/franz-reichelt-120225-1.jpg)
![Étienne Lenoir Étienne Lenoir](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/tienne-lenoir-25486-1.jpg)
Étienne Lenoir was a Belgian-French engineer. He is credited with developing the internal combustion engine which was commercialized in sufficient quantities. Lenoir is also credited with inventing such electrical devices as an improved electric telegraph which played a key role during the Franco-Prussian War.
![Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/douard-lon-scott-de-martinville-27476-1.jpg)
![Nicolas Appert Nicolas Appert](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/nicolas-appert-25346-1.jpg)
![Jacques de Vaucanson Jacques de Vaucanson](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/jacques-de-vaucanson-23342-1.jpg)
Jacques de Vaucanson was a French artist and inventor. He is credited with creating impressive and innovative automata. De Vaucanson was also the first inventor to design an automatic loom. His ideas for the automation of the weaving process were later perfected by Joseph Marie Jacquard, who created the Jacquard machine.
![Pierre Choderlos de Laclos Pierre Choderlos de Laclos](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/pierre-choderlos-de-laclos-25480-1.jpg)
![Claude Chappe Claude Chappe](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/claude-chappe-16759-1.jpg)
![Jean-Pierre Blanchard Jean-Pierre Blanchard](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/jean-pierre-blanchard-1.jpg)
![Guillaume Amontons Guillaume Amontons](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/guillaume-amontons-57074-1.jpg)
![Georges Claude Georges Claude](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/georges-claude-28188-1.jpg)
French engineer and inventor Georges Claude was often referred as the Edison of France. He is most noted for inventing and commercializing neon lighting and having a near monopoly on the new technology, for conducting an experiment to generate thermal energy of the ocean and building the first Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) plant, and for the Claude cycle.
![Pierre Vernier Pierre Vernier](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/no-profile-img.jpg)
![André-Jacques Garnerin André-Jacques Garnerin](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/andr-jacques-garnerin-27078-1.jpg)
![Nicolas-Jacques Conté Nicolas-Jacques Conté](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/nicolas-jacques-cont.jpg)
![Émile Baudot Émile Baudot](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/mile-baudot-1.jpg)
![Louis-Sébastien Lenormand Louis-Sébastien Lenormand](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/louis-sbastien-lenormand-61350-1.jpg)
![Joseph Monier Joseph Monier](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/joseph-monier-58815-1.jpg)
![Paul Cornu Paul Cornu](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/paul-cornu-1.jpg)
![Gaston Planté Gaston Planté](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/gaston-plant-59670-1.jpg)
![Leo Valentin Leo Valentin](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/leo-valentin-1.jpg)
Birdman Leo Valentin was a French adventurer who became the first person to fly with wooden wings attached to his arms, back in the 1950s. He began his career as a parachute instructor with the French army. He died due to a failed flying stunt during an air show in Liverpool.
![Alphonse Pénaud Alphonse Pénaud](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/alphonse-pnaud-1.jpg)
![Charles Cros Charles Cros](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/charles-cros-59195-1.jpg)
![Georges Leclanché Georges Leclanché](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/georges-leclanch-61941-1.jpg)
Georges Leclanché was a 19th-century French electrical engineer who invented what became known as the Leclanché cell. His invention is considered the forerunner of the modern dry cell battery. He was educated at École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures and had a successful engineering career. He later founded the cells factory "Leclanché-Barbier" with Ernest Barbier.
![Léon Gaumont Léon Gaumont](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/lon-gaumont-120914-1.jpg)
Léon Gaumont was a French engineer, inventor, and industrialist. A pioneer of the moving picture industry, Gaumont is credited with founding Gaumont Film Company, the first and oldest film studio in the world. Léon Gaumont is also remembered for his association with Solax Studios.
![Claude-Étienne Minié Claude-Étienne Minié](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/claude-tienne-mini-1.jpg)
![André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/andr-adolphe-eugne-disdri-61706-1.jpg)
![Henri Herz Henri Herz](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/henri-herz-59883-1.jpg)
![Charles Xavier Thomas Charles Xavier Thomas](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/charles-xavier-thomas-1.jpg)
Auguste Lumière was a French engineer, illusionist, industrialist, and biologist. Alongside his brother Louis Jean Lumière, Auguste is credited with inventing a projection device and animated photographic camera called the cinematograph, which attracted worldwide acclaim. He is also remembered for his innovations in military aircraft and his pioneering work in the use of X-rays.
![Henri-Gustave Delvigne Henri-Gustave Delvigne](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/henri-gustave-delvigne-62305-1.jpg)
![André Cassagnes André Cassagnes](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/tfp-no-profile-image-found.jpg)
![Jeanne Villepreux-Power Jeanne Villepreux-Power](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/jeanne-villepreux-power-61656-1.jpg)
Jeanne Villepreux-Power was a French marine biologist. She is credited with creating aquaria in 1832 in order to experiment with aquatic organisms. Nicknamed the Mother of Aquariophily, Villepreux-Power also invented the systematic application of the aquarium in order to study marine life. Jeanne Villepreux-Power was also a well-known author, conservationist, and dressmaker.
![Paul Heroult Paul Heroult](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/paul-heroult-63571-1.jpg)
Best known for inventing the electric-arc furnace, Paul Heroult had also devised the electrolytic process for developing low-cost aluminium. Because of a similar work by Charles Martin Hall, the process came to be known as the Hall–Heroult process. He had also been a technical advisor to many companies.
![Émile Levassor Émile Levassor](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/mile-levassor-63658-1.jpg)
![Charles-Émile Reynaud Charles-Émile Reynaud](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/charles-mile-reynaud-27591-1.jpg)
![Hilaire de Chardonnet Hilaire de Chardonnet](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/hilaire-de-chardonnet-69594-1.jpg)
![Marc Seguin Marc Seguin](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/marc-seguin-74931-1.jpg)
![Nicolas-Louis Robert Nicolas-Louis Robert](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/nicolas-louis-robert-74465-1.jpg)
![Louis Arthur Ducos du Hauron Louis Arthur Ducos du Hauron](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/louis-arthur-ducos-du-hauron-64485-1.jpg)
![Benoît Fourneyron Benoît Fourneyron](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/benot-fourneyron-62284-1.jpg)
![Édouard Belin Édouard Belin](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/douard-belin-63722-1.jpg)
![André Blondel André Blondel](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/andr-blondel-69838-1.jpg)
![Philippe Buache Philippe Buache](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/tfp-no-profile-image-found.jpg)
French cartographer and geographer Philippe Buache significantly developed the field of physical geography. While he initially worked for his father-in-law, cartographer Guillaume Delisle, he later became the royal geographer. He also popularized the use of contour lines in relief maps and pioneered the division of the world into seas and river systems.
![Jules Violle Jules Violle](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/no-profile-img.jpg)