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This project identifies the 72 people engraved on the Eiffel Tower.
Overview
On the Eiffel Tower, seventy-two names of French scientists, engineers and some other notable people are engraved in recognition of their contributions. This is according to the design by Gustave Eiffel. The engravings are found on the sides of the tower under the first balcony.
The engraving was painted over at the beginning of the twentieth century and restored in 1986–1987 by Société Nouvelle d'exploitation de la Tour Eiffel, a company contracted to operate business related to the Tower. The Tower is owned by the city of Paris. The letters were originally done in gold and are about 60 cm high. Note: since the tower was repainted in 2010/2011, the letters are gold again.
The list contains no women. The list has been criticized for excluding the name of Sophie Germain, a noted French mathematician whose work on the theory of elasticity was crucial to the construction of the tower itself. Germain's biographer, Mozans, suggested that she was excluded because she was a woman.