Claude Langlois

Claude Langlois (c. 1700 – 1756) was a French maker of precision scientific instruments and the foremost among them in the period.

He was appointed official instrument maker for French astronomers Cassini II, Cassini de Thury, Le Monnier, Maupertuis, and the Abbé de Lacaille; and held the official position of ingénieur en instruments de mathématiques for the French Académie des Sciences in 1740.

Langlois' earliest known contract was for a six-foot wall quadrant for the Paris observatory with markings that indicate that he worked at the Niveau on the Quai de l'Horloge.

He also produced instruments for use in labs (including those of Lavosier[1]), by surveyors, navigators and astronomers.

After his death, his nephew Jacques Canivet produced eighty copies of the Toise.