Science and technology in France has a long history dating back to theAcadémie des Sciences, founded byLouis XIV in 1666, at the suggestion ofJean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research.France's achievements in science and technology have been significant throughout the past centuries as France's economic growth andindustrialisation process was slow and steady along the 18th and 19th centuries.Research and development efforts form an integral part of thecountry's economy.
Scientific research in the country is supported by industry, by the network ofFrench universities and by higher education establishments outside the main framework,Grandes écoles.
France ranked 13rd in the 2025Global Innovation Index[1][2]
The tradition of scientific research inFrance can be traced back to theScientific Revolution. France is home to some of the world's oldest universities (Montpellier,Paris) although they were, at the time of their foundation, more centered on philosophy, theology and law than on science.
Radioactivity was discovered byHenri Becquerel in 1896. The theoretical foundations and mathematical framework of special relativity were laid byHenri Poincaré, beforeAlbert Einstein used them in 1905 and later.
Theconservation of mass law was discovered byAntoine Lavoisier[3] in 18th century France.
TheCartesian Coordinate System was discovered byRené Descartes in 1637 (and independently by Pierre de Fermat at the same period). The firstcalculator byBlaise Pascal (Pascaline) was made in 1642.[4] (see alsoAdding machine)Probability theory was developed byPierre de Fermat and Blaise Pascal in the seventeenth century (withGerolamo Cardano andChristiaan Huygens).[5]
France is home to 11Fields Medalists, second only to theUnited States in number ofFields Medalists. The fictitious mathematicianNicolas Bourbaki's "association of collaborators" is based atÉcole Normale Supérieure inFrance.
France carried out itsfirst test of an atomic bomb in Algeria in 1960[6] and some operational French nuclear weapons became available in 1964. Then, France executed itsfirst test of the much more powerfulhydrogen bomb over itsSouth Pacific Ocean test range in 1968; this first hydrogen bomb was dropped from astrategic bomber. France was the fourth de facto nuclear power afterUnited States,Soviet Union andUnited Kingdom.
In 1965, France was the third nation, after the formerUSSR and theUnited States, to launch its own space satellite. The French no longer launch their own satellites, however, preferring instead to contribute to the European Space Agency.
