Louis Poinsot | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 3 January 1777 |
| Died | 5 December 1859 |
| Nationality | French |
| Alma mater | École Polytechnique École des Ponts et Chaussées |
| Known for | Kepler–Poinsot polyhedron Poinsot's ellipsoid tennis racket theorem |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Lycée Bonaparte Imperial University of France |
Louis Poinsot (French pronunciation: [lwi pwɛ̃so]; 3 January 1777 – 5 December 1859) was a French mathematician and physicist. Poinsot was the inventor of geometrical mechanics, showing how a system of forces acting on a rigid body could be resolved into a single force and a couple.