Hundreds of French ideas and innovations have shaped our modern world. To illustrate this, we’ve picked out 20 brilliant French inventions. From life-changing tools and devices to genius ideas by once-in-a-generation minds.
French innovations that changed the world
Some French inventions were groundbreaking and had a huge global impact, like the first five on our list.
The Metric System
Of all French inventions, the metric system is perhaps the most consequential. Adopted by every country — bar three holdouts (USA, Liberia, and Myanmar) — it is hard to imagine a world without it.
Created in 1795 by the French Academy of Sciences, it was a product of the French Revolution and the desire for a less chaotic system of weights and measurements.
Yet it didn’t catch on at first, as people clung to older measurement systems. Even the French government was reluctant to adopt metric measurements, preferring a hybrid system for decades.
But decimalisation was just too intuitive to ignore. With the creation of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in 1875, this most practical of French inventions was adopted as a standard for other units of measurements (like temperature and amperes). Today, nearly every nation uses the metric system, with a few exceptions.
Pasteurisation
Ask a school pupil to name a French scientist, and there is every chance they’ll choose Louis Pasteur.
Nowadays, we take for granted that heat kills bacteria. But the discovery was world-changing when the chemist proved it in 1862.
The principle of applying gentle bacteria-eliminating heat to liquid foods without significantly changing the flavour was transformative. In-demand dairy products and other foods could be mass-produced and transported to more people.
A seismic French innovation that changed the world.
Canned Food
War is said to accelerate technological advances. Canned food is an early example, first appearing during the Napoleonic wars.
Needing to feed their vast armies, the French government created a competition to find a method for preserving food on long campaigns. Brewer, Nicolas Appert, won the lucrative competition after he observed that food did not spoil if cooked in completely sealed jars.
Nobody would know why the process worked until years later, when his compatriot, Louis Pasteur, identified the role of microbes. Despite this, the idea was successfully parlayed into a food preservation process used by the French army.
Not to be outdone, the British government adopted the idea of another Frenchman, Phillipe de Girard. He proposed using tins instead of jars (coincidentally to feed their navy that were busy fighting the French). With two leading and competing nations adopting the technique, this food preservation method is one of those French inventions that quickly went global.
Braille
The genius idea of creating a tactile writing system for the blind dates back to 1824.
At just 15 years old, blind Louis Braille cleverly adapted a military system for silent communications (yet another French invention). Despite modern technological solutions, braille exists in 133 languages and remains a valuable communication and learning tool for the blind.
Foucault pendulum
The Foucault Pendulum earns a place on our list of significant French inventions because it definitively demonstrated the earth’s rotation. No one questions it now, but at the time (1851) it was a theory in need of definitive proof.
Named after the creator, physicist Lean Foucault, it has been a feature of science museums ever since. It was also a vital step leading to the creation of the gyroscope.
Margarine
For a nation known to love butter, it is noteworthy that France also gave the world its oft-maligned substitute, margarine.
This love of butter across all strata of French society prompted Emperor Napoleon III to seek a cheap butter alternative, to feed his armies and poor citizens.
Chemist Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès found the solution by creating oleomargarine in 1869, using beef fat. As it happened, the French were not ready to swap their beloved butter for a cheaper alternative. Just two years later, Mège-Mouriès sold the patent to a Dutch manufacturer.
Lifesaving French Inventions
The ensuing entries helped make us healthier and are some of the most important French inventions ever.
The stethoscope
This vital tool was invented by René Laënnec. Amazingly, the stethoscope started life as one of the most rudimentary of French inventions: a paper tube.
But it worked and enabled doctors to hear what was happening inside the stithos (Greek for chest) more clearly. 25 years later, an American doctor turned the discovery into the stethoscope found in doctor surgeries and endless medical dramas today.
Human blood transfusion
Does the first human blood transfusion qualify as an invention? Debatable, but the story is too interesting to omit.
The very first human blood transfusion was made using lamb’s blood. And a brave — or desperate — patient.
The procedure was carried out in 1667 by physician Jean-Baptiste Denis, employing recently acquired knowledge about blood circulation. A successful dog to dog transfusion in England the previous year had also pointed the way.
The first animal to human transfusion was deemed successful, leading to more transfusions. They were far less successful, which resulted in Jean-Baptiste Denis being tried for murder. Although cleared of any crime, blood transfusions from animals were promptly halted.
It would be over 200 years before a successful human to human blood transfusion occurred. But it wasn’t until the 20th century that science caught up and identified the importance of blood groups, removing the hit-or-miss approach of previous transfusions.
Laminated glass
Some great inventions are accidental discoveries. Laminated glass was discovered by chance, even if the idea of non-shattering glass was not new. A French chemist, Édouard Bénédictus, discovered it after dropping a celluloid coated glass flask that did not shatter on impact. He proceeded to patent his discovery after realising how it could reduce serious injuries in vehicle accidents.
Today, laminated glass is used in car windscreens and skylights everywhere.
Everyday practical inventions from France
Not all French inventions have saved lives, but some have certainly saved a lot of frustration and inconvenience. The following innovations are good examples.
Pencil Sharpener
One of the most ubiquitous French inventions is the pencil sharpener.
An 1822 French book includes a reference to a pencil sharpening device from a Monsieur Boucher. While there is no evidence the idea was translated into
a working tool, we do know that a French mathematician, Bernard Lassimonne, obtained the world’s first patent for a pencil sharpener.
Today’s classic pencil sharpener design first appeared in 1847 and is attributed to another Frenchman, Thierry des Estivaux.
Spirit level
The spirit level is one of those French inventions that is endlessly useful.
Invented in 1661 by the multi-talented author, writer, adventurer, and French diplomat, Melchisédech Thévenot, the spirit level became an important tool for architects and engineers. Not to mention anyone who hates a crookedly hung picture.
The first modern calculator
Blaise Pascal is a giant intellectual figure of French history. A noted philosopher and scientist, he is closely associated with probability theory and the development of modern social sciences.
He is also responsible for one of the great French inventions, the calculator. His device was a significant upgrade on the abacus, which had been around since ancient times.
The device he created around 1642 was more accurately known as an Arithmetic Machine, as it only handled addition and subtraction. More poetically, it was known as the Pascaline. Less poetically, it was created to make tax collecting easier.
French transport innovations
There is a lengthy list of French inventions that have played a leading role in the development of modern transportation. We can’t include them all here, but here are three of the most interesting French inventions from the world of transport.
Montgolfière, aka the hot air balloon
The Montgolfier brothers, Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Etienne, did not build the first hot air balloon. But they did take the first manned hot-air balloon flight in 1783.
Previous balloon ‘flights’ had been tethered or involved animals. The brothers were the first to build a balloon safe enough for humans. Interest in hot air balloons swelled in the following few decades. Yet, the pioneering brothers were so influential, hot air balloons are still known as Montgolfières in France.
The modern parachute
Luckily, the Montgolfier brothers didn’t regret not having one of the other outstanding French inventions from that period, the parachute.
Parachutes had existed in various forms for centuries long before hot air balloons took to the skies. A regrettable and misguided attempt to jump from a tall building was made using a large cloak as far back as 882. It was described as marginally successful, simply because the jumper avoided death.
A far more reliable parachute was first deployed by Louis-Sébastien Lenormand, whose jump from a tall building in 1783 was significantly more successful. It was Lenormand who coined the word ‘parachute’.
By the century’s end, Jean-Pierre Blanchard (another Frenchman) had successfully used a folded silk parachute to drop a trusting dog out of a hot air balloon. And in 1797, Frenchman André Garnerin made the first successful human descent with a modern parachute. Fittingly, it was from a hot air balloon.
Cool French inventions
We wrap up this list with six cool French inventions that simply made the world more entertaining.
Cinema
Many great minds played a role in creating modern cinema, including Thomas Edison in the USA. Yet several French inventions truly helped make moviemaking a reality.
One of the pioneers is Louis Le Prince, the ‘Father of Cinematography’. He built one of the earliest moving picture cameras using a single lens motion camera and paper film. His 1.66-second film, ‘Roundhay Garden Scene’ is considered the oldest surviving film.
Le Prince’s work is celebrated in England, where he built his first cameras. Sadly, he disappeared in suspicious circumstances, and his full potential was never realised.
Credit for modern cinema’s existence also goes to the Lumière Brothers. At the same time that Edison’s Kinetograph Camera was transforming the world of photography, they were making short movies with their patented Cinématographe.
Between 1895 and 1905, the brothers, Auguste Marie Louis Nicolas Lumière and Louis Jean Lumière made a series of short films that were shown across France and then the world. They are believed to have projected the first movie that filmgoers paid to see.
The Lumière museum is fantastic place to learn more, which is why it features in our guide to 12 of the most extraordinary French museums.
Digital phone camera
Illustrating the longevity of French inventiveness with cameras, a French engineer, Philippe Kahn, is credited with creating the first digital camera phone. In 1997, he transmitted photos of his newborn daughter, Sophie, to family and friends using a digital camera, laptop, and cell phone. A very modern phenomenon was born.
Denim
Jeans are an American fashion icon that became the most popular item of clothing in history. Yet denim fabric (and name) originates from the French city of Nîmes. Serge de Nîmes, meaning “serge of Nîmes” refers to the twill fabric (serge) the city was known for producing.
Neon lighting
While neon lighting does not rank among the most useful French inventions, it literally made the world a brighter place. We can thank Georges Claude, who made the first neon light in 1910, just 12 years after neon gas was discovered.
Known as the ‘Edison of France’, the inventor helped make neon lighting a global phenomenon during the 1920s. By the 1940s, neon signage was lighting up Times Square in New York and shopping districts around the world.
Cafetière, aka French press
If you had to guess, you would probably assume the cafetière is a French invention. It is not called a French press for nothing, surely? Yet, there’s a twist to the story.
One of the earliest patents for a cafetière prototype was filed in the USA by an Italian designer. While a Swiss designer working out in a French factory, Faliero Bondanini, is credited with creating the design that is still in popular use today.
But anyone who guessed the cafetière was first made in France can still claim the win. The very first patent for a coffee press using a plunger with a screen (or cheesecloth) was filed by two Frenchmen, Henri Otto-Mayer and Jacques-Victor Delforge, in 1852.
More intriguing is an unsubstantiated legend that tells the tale of a henpecked Frenchman who escaped his wife daily to make coffee. One day, he forgot to add the coffee grounds until too late. As luck would have it, a passing Italian merchant suggested using a metal filter to separate the coffee grounds from the water.
A eureka moment followed as they realised the potential and set about selling their creation.
Sadly, the tall tale is likely a myth. But as one of the more romantic stories about French inventions, we’re happy to repeat it…
Aqualung
There is no doubting the origins of the final entry on our list of brilliant French inventions. The aqualung, or scuba, was created by pioneering underwater filmmaker Jacques-Yves Cousteau and inventor Émile Gagnan.
It was not the first underwater breathing apparatus. That honour falls to another Frenchman, Benoît Rouquayrol, who built the first underwater breathing regulator in 1860. While in 1934, Frenchman René Commeinhes made a self-contained breathing apparatus for firefighters that also worked underwater.
But scuba was perfected and popularised by Émile Gagnan and Jacques-Yves Cousteau. After being elevated to celebrity status due to his popular documentaries, Jacques-Yves Cousteau helped make the aqualung one of the most famous modern French inventions.
