Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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École Polytechnique
(1,000 words)

1. Foundation and conceptual orientation

Unlike the practical schools of engineering of the Ancien Régime, the institution founded in Paris during the French Revolution as the École centrale des travaux publics in 1794, and renamed École Polytechnique (its name to this day) the following year, taught mathematical and scientific theory as the basis for engineering and technical professions. Their theorization of professional training was a model …

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Dhombres, Jean, “École Polytechnique”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_018510>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20170626



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