Joseph had heard the name Lazare Carnot, though not in history class—after all, in his previous life, he'd learned history from the PE teacher. In fact, Joseph had first heard the name from his math and physics teachers.
His math teacher had mentioned Carnot while introducing the concept of a "complete quadrilateral," but hadn't said much more about him. His physics teacher, on the other hand, had brought up another Carnot—Sadi Carnot—while teaching thermodynamics. From there, he'd gone on to say that Sadi Carnot's father had been a mathematician and military man, and that his nephew had once been president of France. (He meant Marie François Sadi Carnot, the third president of the Second Republic.)
Later, Joseph had also seen Lazare Carnot portrayed in a movie about the French Revolution. In that film, Lazare Carnot was an important member of the conspiracy against Robespierre—and the only one in the group to openly oppose him. Strangely, though, the murderous Robespierre had never sent him to the guillotine, or even considered doing so. Instead, after Carnot and the others sent Robespierre to the guillotine, the newly established government nearly cut Carnot's head off in turn. It was only when someone said, "If we cut Carnot's head off, who'll organize the army for us?" that they stopped.
That was the sum of Joseph's knowledge about Lazare Carnot. By comparison, he probably knew more about Lazare's unborn son, who would later found the field of thermodynamics.
But anyone who truly knew the history of the French Revolution understood that Lazare Carnot was unquestionably one of its most influential figures. He was also one of the rare great men who held on to power at the center through the transition from kingdom to republic and then to empire.
Only three people managed to remain standing