Mathematical instrument maker
Nicolas Bion
Also recorded as: Bion, Nicolas
Paris instrument maker and author of the standard 18th-century treatise on mathematical instruments.
Engineer to the king for mathematical instruments, Bion ran a shop on the Quai de l'Horloge making sundials, globes, astrolabes and surveying instruments. His Traité de la construction et des principaux usages des instruments de mathématique (1709) was translated into English and German and widely used.
- Country
- France
- City / centre
- Paris
- Life / active
- 1652–1733
- Status
- Historical individual
- Key people
- Nicolas Bion
Innovations & specialities
- Traité de la construction ... des instruments de mathématique (1709)
Works by Nicolas Bion in the catalogue
Open in the catalogue →
Instruments · 1680-1733
Pocket sun-dial, brass, by Nicolas Bion, Paris, France, 1680-1733.
Science Museum Group, London
Instruments · 1680-1733
Universal Dial, signed "N. Bion, Paris"
Science Museum Group, London
Instruments · 1700-1725
Sundial by Bion, Nicolas, France, 1700-1725
Science Museum Group, London
Linked through the Atlas maker authority list, which reconciles the spellings used by different institutions. Attributions are as stated by each holding institution or auction house.
