Carnot, Hippolyte

Carnot, Hippolyte, 1801-88, French statesman; son of Lazare Carnot. He shared his father's exile after 1815 and returned to France in 1823. A follower of Claude Henri de Saint-Simon, he participated in the July Revolution of 1830. He came to oppose the July Monarchy and was elected three times as an opposition member of the chamber of deputies. He took part in the radical agitation that led to the February Revolution of 1848 and became minister of education in the provisional government. Entering (1864) the corps législatif, he joined the liberal opposition to Emperor Napoleon III, after whose downfall he became a member of the constituent assembly (1871) and then a senator for life (1875).

Carnot is the name of a celebrated French family in politics and science with the following members:

• Lazare Nicolas Marguerite Carnot (1753-1823), mathematician and politician.
• Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot (1796-1832), mathematician and eldest son of Lazare, one of the pioneers of thermodynamics.
• Hippolyte Carnot (1801-1888), politician and second son of Lazare.
• Marie François Sadi Carnot (1837-1894), son of Hippolyte, President of France, 1887–1894.
• Marie Adolphe Carnot (1839-1920), son of Hippolyte, mining engineer and chemist.

A number of lycées, streets etc. are named after this family throughout France.

It may also refer to:

• Carnot heat engine, the idealised thermodynamic engine based on the Carnot cycle, as studied by Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot.
• Carnot (crater), a crater on the far side of the moon.
• Carnot, Central African Republic, a city located in the Central African Republic.

See also

• Carnot's rule, an early formulation of the second law of thermodynamics.
• Carnot's theorem in geometry.
• Carnot Posey, an American lawyer and Confederate general.
• Carnot-Moon, Pennsylvania, USA.
• Karnaugh maps in boolean logic, introduced by Maurice Karnaugh (pronounced just like Carnot).