Editing Joseph-Louis Lagrange (section)

==== École Normale ====
In 1795, Lagrange was appointed to a mathematical chair at the newly established [[École Normale Supérieure|École Normale]], which enjoyed only a short existence of four months. His lectures there were elementary; they contain nothing of any mathematical importance, though they do provide a brief historical insight into his reason for proposing [[undecimal#Undecimal in the history of measurement|undecimal]] or Base 11 as the base number for the reformed system of weights and measures.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lagrange |first1=Joseph-Louis |last2=Laplace |first2=Pierre-Simon |chapter=Mathématiques |title=Séances des écoles normales, recueillies par des sténographes, et revues par les professeurs. Seconde partie. Débats. Tome premier |location=Paris |publisher=L. Reynier |date=1795 |pages=3–23 |oclc=780161317}}</ref>{{rp|23}} The lectures were published because the professors had to "pledge themselves to the representatives of the people and to each other neither to read nor to repeat from memory" ["Les professeurs aux Écoles Normales ont pris, avec les Représentants du Peuple, et entr'eux l'engagement de ne point lire ou débiter de mémoire des discours écrits"<ref name="Book1">{{cite book |title=Séances des Écoles normales, recueillies par des sténographes, et revues par les professeurs. Nouvelle édition. Leçons. Tome premier |chapter=Avertissement |pages=iii–viii |location=Paris |publisher=Cercle-Social |date=1795 |oclc=490193660 }}</ref>{{rp|iii}}]. The discourses were ordered and taken down in shorthand to enable the deputies to see how the professors acquitted themselves. It was also thought the published lectures would interest a significant portion of the citizenry ["Quoique des feuilles sténographiques soient essentiellement destinées aux élèves de l'École Normale, on doit prévoir quיelles seront lues par une grande partie de la Nation"<ref name="Book1"/>{{rp|v}}].