Sadi Carnot,*in full Nicolas-léonard-sadi Carnot* *(born June 1, 1796,*Paris, Fr.—died Aug. 24, 1832,*Paris),*French scientist who described the Carnot cycle, relating to the theory of heat engines.

Carnot was the eldest son of the French Revolutionary figure Lazare Carnot and was named for a medieval Persian poet and philosopher, Saʿdī of Shīrāz. His early years were a period of unrest, and the family suffered many changes of fortune. His father fled into exile soon after Sadi’s birth; in 1799 he returned to be appointed Napoleon’s minister of war but was soon forced to resign. A writer on mathematics and mechanics as well as military and political matters, the elder Carnot now had the leisure to direct his son’s early education

Born in Paris, Sadi Carnot was the son of the eminent military leader and geometer, Lazare Nicholas Marguerite Carnot, brother of Hippolyte Carnot, and uncle of Marie François Sadi Carnot. His father named him for the Persian poet Sadi of Shiraz, after a son by the same name died before Carnot was born
Carnot's father was an important personage in both science and politics. He was one of five directors who led France beginning in 1796 in the wake of the reign of terror. In 1797, when a military coup deposed the directors, Carnot's father left Paris for Switzerland and Carnot went with his mother to St. Omer. Political upheavals in France thus rocked Carnot's childhood, and it is said that they contributed to his physical frailty
Carnot's father returned to France after two years in exile, and was appointed minister of war under Napoleon. During this time, Carnot spent time with, and was considered a favorite of, Napoleon's wife, Josephine, whenever his father was called to visit Napoleon
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