1647-1724

French physicist and watchmaker who made significant advances in the development of timepieces and invented the forerunner of the internal-combustion engine. Hautefeuille was fascinated by mechanics as a youth. He focused much of his attention on watches, to which he made many improvements, most notably replacing the pendulum used at the time with a spiral spring. Hautefeuille also invented a thalassameter, which was used to register the movement of tides, and was credited with inventing the first internal-combustion engine, which was designed to operate a pump.