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Jean-Charles de Borda (May 4, 1733 - February 19, 1799) was a French mathematician, physicist, political scientist, and sailor.
In 1756, Borda wrote Mémoire sur le mouvement des projectiles, a product of his work as a military engineer. For that, he was elected to the French Academy of Sciences in 1764.
Borda was a sailor and a scientist, spending time in the Caribbean testing out advances in chronometers. Between 1777 and 1778, he participated in the American Revolutionary War. In 1781, he was put in charge of several vessels in the French Navy. In 1782, he was captured by the English, and was returned to France shortly after. He returned as an engineer in the French Navy, making improvements to waterwheels and pumps.
Borda advocated a voting system devised by Nicholas of Cusa in the 15th Century. Today, this method is most commonly referred to as the Borda count. As a contemporary of the Marquis de Condorcet, he engaged in many scholarly debates regarding the merits of their respective voting systems (Condorcet advocated a Condorcet method)
He is honored by an eponymous crater on the Moon.
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