Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Rouen, Normandy, France
About Adrien Auzout
- Adrien Auzout [pronounced in French somewhat like o-zoo] (28 January 1622 – 23 May 1691) was a French astronomer. He was born in Rouen, France, the eldest child of a clerk in the court of Rouen.
- His educational background is unknown, although he may have attended the Jesuit college in Rouen.
- Adrien left for Paris during the 1640s, where he developed an interest in astronomy and became well known in academic circles.
- In 1664–1665 he made observations of comets, and argued in favor of their following elliptical or parabolic orbits (in this he was opposed by his rival Johannes Hevelius).
- Adrien was briefly a member of the Académie Royale des Sciences from 1666 to 1668 (he may have left due to a dispute) and a founding member of the Paris Observatory.
- He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1666.
- He then left for Italy and spent the next 20 years in that country, finally dying in Rome in 1691.
- Little is known about his activities during this last period. He was described as a good optician and maker of telescopes.
- He is also said to have had poor health through much of his life.Auzout made contributions in telescope observations, including perfecting the use of the micrometer.
- He made many observations with large aerial telescopes and he is noted for briefly considering the construction of a huge aerial telescope 1,000 feet in length that he would use to observe animals on the Moon.
- In 1647 he performed an experiment that demonstrated the role of air pressure in function of the mercury barometer.
- In 1667–68, Auzout and Jean Picard attached a telescopic sight to a 38-inch quadrant, and used it to accurately determine positions on the Earth. Auzout, the Moon crater, is named after him.
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