His mother, Hermine Lecomte du Noüy, wrote many novels, one of which, Amitié Amoureuse, was translated into 16 languages and ran for 600 editions in France.

[3] He invented a tensiometer,[4] a scientific apparatus that used his du Noüy ring method to measure the surface tension of liquids.

[6] Du Noüy met Pierre Teilhard de Chardin who shared similar interests in evolution and spirituality.

[8] According to Du Noüy evolution could not occur by chance alone and that on an average since "the beginning of the world it has followed an ascending path, always oriented in the same direction."

[6] His "telefinalist" hypothesis was criticized by Carl Hempel,[10] Leo Koch and George Gaylord Simpson as nonscientific.