Born on small town of Dole in France Son of a tanner. studied in the college of Arbois and at Besançon, he graduated in arts in 1840. career. As a student preparing for the prestigious école Normale Supérieure of Paris, did not doubt his ability. gained admittance by passing fourteenth on the list, he refused entry; taking the examination again, he won third place and accepted. For his doctorate his attention was directed to the then obscure science of crystallography. This was to have a decisive influence on his
