He was born in Montpellier to Thérèse Salettes and Étienne Bérard, the latter a scientist and chemical manufacturer (particularly of sulphuric acid).
[4] As an assistant from 1807, Bérard became a member of the Société d'Arcueil, a group of like-minds who met regularly at the homes of Berthollet at Arcueil, near Paris; he was able to frequent with many experienced and well-known scientists.
The same year, his experiments with François-Étienne de La Roche won the prize of the First Class of the University, for determining the specific heat of gases using a copper calorimeter.
In the same city, he also became Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at l'Académie des Sciences et Lettres, a position he held from 1847 to 1869.
He was a pioneer in chemical engineering, including pharmaceuticals, and was managing director of La Paille, the manufacturing site that had been founded by Chaptal in 1782.