Le Châtelier's relatives and close family friends included many engineers and scientists. Members of this circle were involved in lime and cement production, railway construction, mining, and aluminum and steel manufacturing. France's leading chemists often visited the Le Châtelier home, and all of the Le Châtelier children pursued scientific or technological careers. In later life, Le Châtelier said that his family had strongly influenced his research pursuits.

After serving as an army lieutenant in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, Le Châtelier finished college at the Ècole Polytechnique, earning a degree in science and engineering in 1875. Two years later, he became a chemistry professor at the Ecole des Mines, where he began research on cement, ceramics, and glass. Some of his experiments required the measurement of very high temperatures, for which the equipment available at the time was...