François Joseph des Camus (14 September 1672 – 1732), a French mechanic, was born near Saint-Mihiel, France. After studying for the church, he devoted himself to mechanical inventions, a number of which he described in his Traité des forces mouvantes pour la pratique des arts et métiers, Paris, 1722. He died in England in 1732. References 18th-century French inventors Members of the French Academy of Sciences 1672 births 1732 deaths