"In 1798 begon hij aan de École Polytechnique in Parijs, en trok direct de aandacht van de hoogleraren aldaar, die hem vrij lieten in de keuze van zijn onderwerpen. ###>In 1798, he entered the École Polytechnique in Paris as first in his year, and immediately began to attract the notice of the professors of the school, who left him free to make his own decisions as to what he would study.