Philippe de La Hire
Philippe de La Hire (or Lahire, La Hyre or Phillipe de La Hire) (18 March 1640 – 21 April 1718) was a French painter, mathematician, astronomer, and architect. According to Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle, he was an "academy unto himself". He was born in Paris, the son of Laurent de La Hire, a distinguished artist, and Marguerite Coquin.
Also recorded as Philippe de La Hyre · Philippe De La Hyre · Lahire le fils · Lahyre le fils
Philippe de La Hire

La Hire, Philippe de - Austrian National Library, Austria - Public Domain. · Public domain
- Name
- Philippe de La Hire
- Born
- 18 March 1640
- Birthplace
- Paris
- Field
- Mathematics, astronomy, architecture
- Died
- 1718.
- Nationality
- France.
- Occupation
- astronomer, mathematician, professor, architect, naturalist and artist.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Philippe de La Hire (or Lahire, La Hyre or Phillipe de La Hire) (18 March 1640 – 21 April 1718) was a French painter, mathematician, astronomer, and architect. According to Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle, he was an "academy unto himself". He was born in Paris, the son of Laurent de La Hire, a distinguished artist, and Marguerite Coquin.
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Note VALÉORINE
Philippe de La Hire (1640–1718) was an architect, artist and astronomer, among other activities, of French nationality. The architect was born and died in Paris.
Philippe de La Hire worked for Collège de France and was a member of Académie des sciences and Académie Royale d'Architecture. The architect worked in Paris Observatory, PSL University. Languages used include French and Latin.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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Authority files
wikidata · Q371890 · wikipedia · Philippe de La Hire
In this article
Biography
Biography
In 1660, he moved to Venice for four years to study painting. Upon his return to Paris, he became a disciple of Girard Desargues from whom he learned geometrical perspective and was received as a master painter on 4 August 1670. His paintings have sometimes been confused with those of his son, Jean Nicolas de La Hire, who was a doctor as well as a painter. He also began to study science and showed an aptitude for mathematics. He was taught by the French Jesuit theologian, mathematician, physicist and controversialist Honoré Fabri and became part of a circle formed by Fabri which included Giovanni Domenico Cassini, Claude François Milliet Dechales, Christiaan Huygens and his brother Constantijn, Gottfried Leibniz, René Descartes and Marin Mersenne. He became a member of French Academy of Sciences in 1678, upon the death of Jacques Buot, and subsequently became active as an astronomer, calculating tables of the movements of the Sun, Moon, and planets and designing contrivances for aiming aerial telescopes. From 1679–1682 he made several observations and measurements of the French coastline, and in 1683 aided in mapping France by extending the Paris meridian to the north. In 1683 La Hire assumed the chair of mathematics at the Collège Royal. From 1687 onwards, he taught at the Académie d’architecture. La Hire wrote on graphical methods, 1673; on conic sections, 1685; a treatise on epicycloids, 1694; one on roulettes, 1702; and, lastly, another on conchoids, 1708. His works on conic sections and epicycloids were based on the teaching of Desargues, of whom he was the favourite pupil. He also translated the essay of Manuel Moschopulus on magic squares, and collected many of the theorems on them which were previously known; this was published in 1705. He also published a set of astronomical tables in 1702. La Hire's work also extended to descriptive zoology, the study of respiration, and physiological optics. Two of his sons were also notable for their scientific achievements: Gabriel-Philippe de La Hire, (1677–1719), mathematician, and Jean-Nicolas de La Hire (1685–1727), botanist. Mons La Hire, a mountain on the Moon, is named for him. On 19 December 1699, he presented ‘Expériences et observations sur les corps qui frottent l’un contre l’autre’ (Experiments and observations on bodies that slide against each other) at the Académie Royale des Sciences in Paris, where he proposed what are now commonly known as Amontons’ laws of friction after Guillaume Amontons.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Philippe de La Hire • Born — 18 March 1640 • Birthplace — Paris • Field — Mathematics, astronomy, architecture
Selected works
Selected works
• Illustration — Andromeda and Cassiopeia, detail from Planisphère céleste (1705). Unless otherwise stated, La Hire's works are in French. • Nouvelle méthode en géométrie pour les sections des superficies coniques et cylindriques (1673) (New geometrical method for the sections of conical and cylindrical areas) • Nouveaux éléments des sections coniques: Les lieux géométriques: Les constructions ou effections des équations (1679) • La gnomonique ou l'Art de faire des cadrans au soleil (1682) (Gnomonics or the Art of making sundials.) • Sectiones conicæ (1685) (Conic sections.) • Tables du Soleil et de la Lune (1687) (Tables of the Sun and of the Moon) • L'ecole des arpenteurs (1689; on line: 4th ed., 1732) • Traité de mecanique: ou l'on explique tout ce qui est nécessaire dans la pratique des arts, & les propriétés des corps pesants lesquelles ont un plus grand usage dans la physique (1695) * • Planisphère céleste (1705) • "Des conchoïdes en général". In: Histoire de l'Académie royale des sciences, p. 32 of the memoirs section (1708) • Tabulæ astronomicæ Ludovici Magni iussu et munificentia exaratæ et in lucem editæ (1727) • Tables astronomiques dressées et mises en lumiere par les ordres et par la magnificence de Louis le Grand (1735)
Identity and origins
Identity and origins
The authorities additionally record the headings Philippe de La Hyre, Philippe De La Hyre, Lahire le fils, Lahyre le fils and fils Lahir. His recorded languages were French and Latin. He was the child of Laurent de La Hyre. 2 children are recorded: Jean-Nicolas de La Hire and Gabriel Philippe de la Hire. Other recorded relations include Étienne de La Hire.
Career and activity
Career and activity
He was employed by Collège de France. He belonged to French Academy of Sciences and Académie Royale d'Architecture. He worked at Paris Observatory, PSL University and Paris.
Identity
Identity
Philippe de La Hire is recorded as astronomer, mathematician, professor and architect.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1640
Philippe de La Hire was born in 1640.
1718
Philippe de La Hire died at Paris.
Primary material
Digitised editions and texts
Sunspot Observations in 1684-1702: John Flamsteed and Philippe de La Hire (2025) — DataCite (arXiv)
Philippe de la Hire (1640-1718), entre architecture et sciences (2013) — DataCite (CRCV)
Primary material
Documents and archives
scholarly publication
- Hire, Philippe de la, Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers, 2014
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2014
- La Hire, Philippe de [Philippe I] (1640?1718) and La Hire, Gabriel-Philippe de [Philippe II] (1677?19), The Encyclopedia of Astronomy and Astrophysics
Scholarly · Crossref registry
- La Hire, Philippe de, Benezit Dictionary of Artists, 2011
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2011
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q371890: Philippe de La Hire
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
- “Philippe de La Hire”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Literature
Literature
Literature
La Hire, Philippe de, Oxford Music Online, 2001
La Hire, Philippe de, Benezit Dictionary of Artists, 2011
Hire, Philippe de la, SpringerReference
Hire, Philippe de la, Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers, 2014
Scholarly footprint
Literature
Scholarly footprint
A count of publications is evidence of attention, not of standing, and is given here only as a measure.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1."LA HIRE, Philippe de." Benezit Dictionary of Artists. Oxford Art Online (subscription required). Oxford University Press, accessed May 29, 2016.
- 2.Chareix 2008, p. 662.
- 3.Hockey, Thomas. The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. Springer Publishing. 2009. 978-0-387-31022-0.
- 4.Introduction to Jesuit Geometers by Joseph F. MacDonnell - Chapter 4 Influence on Other Geometers.
- 5."Méthode pour se servir des grands verres de lunette sans tuyau pendant la nuit". In: Mém. de l'Acad., 1715
- 6.La Hire and the map of France · Philippe de la Hire, the Constant Study · Bibliothèque numérique - Observatoire de Paris.
- 7.La Hire and the Paris meridian · Philippe de la Hire, the Constant Study · Bibliothèque numérique - Observatoire de Paris.
- 8.Hutchings, Ian M. A note on Guillaume Amontons and the laws of friction. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part J: Journal of Engineering Tribology. 235. 12. 2530–2536. December 2021. 1350-6501.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 1
- Chareix, Fabien (2008). "La Hire, Philippe de", vol. 2, pp. 662–664, in The Dictionary of Seventeenth-Century French Philosophers, edited by Luc Foisneau. London: Continuum. .
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly publication
Hire, Philippe de la, Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers, 2014Crossref registry
Verifiedscholarly publication
La Hire, Philippe de [Philippe I] (1640?1718) and La Hire, Gabriel-Philippe de [Philippe II] (1677?19), The Encyclopedia of Astronomy and AstrophysicsCrossref registry
Verifiedscholarly publication
La Hire, Philippe de, Benezit Dictionary of Artists, 2011Crossref registry
Verifiedreference work
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
A further 1 witness is held back from this article because the person or object named in it is not yet resolved to this record. They are kept, not discarded, and return once the identity is established.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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