CARNOT : a good 

example of applied  

research that has 

yielded scientific  

results at the highest 

level.

Asked to improve steam engines 

(Reflections on the motive power 

of heat and on machines fitted 

to develop that power), Nicolas 

Léonard Sadi Carnot (1796-1832) 

established the second law of 

thermodynamics, which governs 

the workings of devices that  

we all use on a daily basis (heat engines in cars, 

refrigerators, etc.).