{{Short description|French geologist (1725–1815)}}
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{{Infobox scientist
|name              = Nicolas Desmarest
|image             = Nicolas Desmarest.jpg
|birth_date        = 16 September 1725
|birth_place       = [[Soulaines-Dhuys]], France
|death_date        = {{death date and age text|20 September 1815|16 September 1725}}
|death_place       = [[Paris]], France
|residence         = 
|citizenship       = 
|ethnicity         = 
|field             = [[geology]]
|workplaces        = 
|doctoral_advisor  = 
|doctoral_students = 
|known_for         = 
|influences        = 
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|awards            = 
|religion          = 
|footnotes         = 
|signature         = Unterschrift Nicolas Desmarest (1725-1815).png
}}

'''Nicolas Desmarest''' ({{IPA|fr|nikɔla demaʁɛ}}; 16 September 1725 &ndash; 20 September 1815) was a French [[geologist]] and contributor to the [[Encyclopédie|''Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers'']],<ref>[http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/rde_0769-0886_1989_num_7_1_1036  Frank A. Kafker: ''Notices sur les auteurs des dix-sept volumes de « discours » de l'Encyclopédie. Recherches sur Diderot et sur l'Encyclopédie.'' 1989, Volume 7, Numéro 7, S.&nbsp;137]</ref> in particular, the multi-volume ''Géographie-physique''.<ref>[[Archibald Geikie|Sir Archibald Geikie]], ''The Founders of Geology'' (1897)</ref>

Desmarest was born in Soulaines, in the department of [[Aube]]. Of humble parentage, he was educated at the College of the Oratorians of [[Troyes]] and [[Paris]]. Taking full advantage of the instruction he received, he was able to support himself by teaching, and to continue his studies independently. [[Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon|Buffon]]'s ''Theory of the Earth'' interested him, and in 1753 he successfully competed for a prize by writing an essay on the ancient connection between [[England]] and France. This attracted much attention, and ultimately led to his being employed in studying and reporting on manufactures in different countries, and in 1788 to his appointment as inspector-general of the manufactures of France.{{sfn|Woodward|1911}}

He utilized his journeys, travelling on foot, so as to add to his knowledge of the Earth's structure. In 1763 he made observations in [[Auvergne (province)|Auvergne]], recognizing that the prismatic basalts were old [[lava]] streams, comparing them with the columns of the [[Giant's Causeway]] in [[Ireland]], and referring them to the operations of extinct [[volcano]]es. It was not, however, until 1774, that he published an essay on the subject, accompanied by a geological map, having meanwhile on several occasions revisited the district. He then pointed out the succession of volcanic outbursts and the changes the rocks had undergone through weathering and erosion. As remarked by [[Archibald Geikie|Sir Archibald Geikie]], the doctrine of the origin of valleys by the erosive action of the streams which flow through them was first clearly taught by Desmarest.{{sfn|Woodward|1911}}

An enlarged and improved edition of his map of the volcanic region of Auvergne was published after his death, in 1823, by his son [[Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest]] (1784-1838), who was distinguished as a [[zoologist]], and author of memoirs on recent and [[fossil]] [[crustacean]]s. He died in Paris.{{sfn|Woodward|1911}}

==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Desmarest, Nicolas|volume=8|page=97|first=Horace Bolingbroke|last=Woodward|author-link=Horace Bolingbroke Woodward}}

==External links==
* Desmarest, Nicolas (1771) [http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/ref/collection/earththeory/id/12577 "Mémoire sur l'origine et la nature du Basalte à grandes colonnes polygones, déterminées par l'Histoire Naturelle de cette pierre, observée en Auvergne"] ''Histoire de l'Académie Royale des Sciences'', p.&nbsp;705-775

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Desmarest, Nicolas}}
[[Category:French geologists]]
[[Category:Members of the French Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Contributors to the Encyclopédie (1751–1772)]]
[[Category:1725 births]]
[[Category:1815 deaths]]
[[Category:French male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:18th-century French male writers]]