auguste bravais (; 23 august 1811, annonay, ardèche – 30 march 1863, le chesnay, france) was a french physicist known for his work in crystallography, the conception of bravais lattices, and the formulation of bravais law. bravais also studied magnetism, the northern lights, meteorology, geobotany, phyllotaxis, astronomy, statistics and hydrography.