Nicolas was born on the 29th of December 1713 in Rumigny, France. He attended a school in Mantes-sur-Seine in France and later was to become a member of the French Abbey. Nicolas always had a strong attraction towards science and astronomy so he set out in 1739 to remeasure the French arc of the meridian which was the length of France from one point to another. This of coarse was a huge accomplishment at the time therefore Nicolas was rewarded to attend the Royal Academy of Sciences and was appointed Professor of Mathematics in the Mazarin College at the University of Paris. He published a number of popular textbooks at the time but set out on a adventure in 1750 to the western cape of South Africa where he was helped by others to construct a observatory on the flattened top of a mountain. After two years of studying day and night Nicolas catalogued over 10,000 stars,42 nebulae and introduced 14 new constellations. In 1754
Nicolas was elected as foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and was also a dedicated member of the Academies of Saint Petersburg and Berlin, the Royal Society of London and the Royal Society of Gottingen. In 1762 Nicolas died of natural causes and was buried in the vaults of the Mazarin College. It is said that he made more observations and calculations than all astronomers of his time put together. There is even a crater on the Moon named after him named La Caille.
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