Gaspard Monge

Son of a Beaune merchant, Monge drafted a map of his hometown at sixteen of such astonishing precision that he was hired by the military engineering school at Mézières. There, he invented descriptive geometry—a graphical method using orthogonal projections to represent three-dimensional objects on a two-dimensional plane.

Because of its vital military value for designing fortresses and cutting stone, his technique was classified as a state secret for fifteen years. During the Revolution, Monge mobilized gun foundries, created the metric system, and co-founded the École Polytechnique in 1794. He accompanied Napoleon to Egypt, becoming president of the Institut d'Égypte.