Louis Leprince-Ringuet

Louis Leprince-Ringuet was a French physicist, telecommunications engineer, essayist and historian of science.

Louis Marie Edmond Leprince-Ringuet was the son of Félix Leprince - Ringuet, director of the École des Mines , and Marie Stourm, grandson of René Stourm, of the Institute, and great-grandson of the sculptor Victor Paillard, was a pupil at École Polytechnique. He continued his studies at Supélec from 1920 to 1923, then at Télécom Paris, before becoming an engineer in the submarine cable department.

From 1929, he worked with Maurice de Broglie at the X-ray physics laboratory. He taught physics at the École Polytechnique from 1936 to 1969 and at the Collège de France from 1959 to 1972.  In 1949 he became a member of the Académie des Sciences. In 1958, he obtained the appointment of a third professor of physics at Polytechnic: Bernard Gregory. He was commissioner for Atomic Energy from 1951 to 1971.

He obtained numerous recognition titles from his peers, such as several prizes from the Académie des Sciences and the Société Française de Physique. He defines himself as an experimental physicist and attaches great importance to experimentation. A practicing Catholic, he thought a lot about the relationship between science and religion. He was president of the Catholic Union of French scientists. In 1961, he became a member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

Author of several books (on political and social subjects) and laureate of the Ève Delacroix literary prize in 1958, he was elected member of the Académie française in 1966. He animated on television (single channel) a Quarter of an hour from 1967 to 1969. He was president of Jeunesses Musicales de France from 1971 to 1983. His commitment to Europe led him to be President of the French Organization of the European Movement from 1974 to 1990.

He died on December 23, 2000 in Paris at the age of 99.