The First Publication

Abstract

In 1690, in the face of fierce opposition and despite charges that he was unqualified and incompetent to teach in Latin, Tyssot was appointed as extraordinary professor of mathematics at the Ecole Illustre. Clearly he could not hope for further advancement unless he made a name for himself in the academic world at large. The only way to do this was by publishing a scholarly work and having it favourably reviewed in the learned journals. In 1694, Tyssot achieved this distinction when he published his Oraison ou Dissertation où il est démontré mathématiquement, pourquoi c’est que l’homme ne se peut servir, aussi parfaitement que sa nature le peut permettre, que d’un seul de ses sens à la fois. ¹ When Etienne Chauvin reviewed Tyssot’s treatise in the Nouveau Journal des sçavans ² he spoke of “la démonstration de M. Tyssot dont il a sujet de se faire beaucoup d’honneur,” and referred to the author as “ce docte mathématicien.” ³ In the Lettres choisies Tyssot gave an account of how he came to publish his dissertation.