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How did contemporary microeconomic theory emerge? Who were its chief architects? Conventional wisdom points largely to the work of Alfred Marshall (1842-1924) and his colleagues in England in the late nineteenth century. In this highly original and important contribution to the history of economic thought, Robert Ekelund and Robert Hébert convincingly argue that the intellectual tradition of microeconomic inquiry was initiated by members of the Corps des Ingénieurs des Ponts et Chaussées (French corps of state civil engineers), most notably Jules Dupuit (1804-66). Using documents previously unavailable in English, the authors present a cohesive and original picture of French economic thought that solidly documents the contributions of Dupuit and his colleagues. This is a seminal work about the foundations of modern microeconomics.

"A very fine piece of work that provides material I have never seen before, is well written, and has undoubtable merits."--William Baumol, C.V. Starr Center for Applied Economics, New York University

"By bringing to the forefront the achievements of French engineer Jules Dupuit, this work changes our view of the history of microeconomics. Secret Origin of Modern Microeconomicsis a commentary on our discipline's mythology of origins: it reminds us that, in the construction and maintenance of canonical authority, the recoginition of founding fathers requires simultaneous, often subtle, gestures of exclusion."--Philippe Fontaine, école Normale Supèrieure de Cachan

"The book succeeds in staking out a claim for Dupuit as one of the founders of formal economic theory and reasoning. This is a stellar performance and a book that will shake up the historiography of the discipline for decades to come. At future professional meetings we shall debate the origins of modern neoclassical economics: British or French?" - American Journal of Economics and Sociology

"This is a beauty of a book! Erudite, well-researched, with a detailed knowledge of the primary sources, original, and high on economic analysis. This is not a book for the faint-hearted. It requires a good knowledge of economic theory and an interest in the History of Ideas. It also gives a first rate account of the history of the period and the history of institutions in pre- and post-revolutionary France that have created this strange beast: the French engineer whose skills made him attack from a formal and theoretical viewpoint practical problems. It certainly puts modern neoclassical microeconomics in a historical perspective. . . . A must for anyone with a serious interest in the subject!" - Nicos Theocarakis, University of Athens

Robert B. Ekelund Jr.

Robert Burton Ekelund, Jr. (born 1940) is an American economist.

In 1967, after the completion of his Ph.D., Ekelund was hired by Texas A&M University economics department. He was made Professor of Economics in 1974 and remained on the faculty of the College Station, Texas school until 1979, when he moved to Auburn, Alabama to become a professor at Auburn University. Ekelund was a visiting scholar at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and in 2003 he served as the Vernon Taylor Distinguished Visiting Professor at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. Ekelund is now Catherine and Edward Lowder Eminent Scholar Emeritus at Auburn University and is a policy advisor to the Heartland. He is also an Independent Institute research fellow and an adjunct faculty member of the Mises Institute.

Economic topics notably discussed by Ekelund include the history of economic thought, the economics of regulation, the economics of religion, public choice theory,mercantilism, and the economics of the American Civil War blockades.

In addition to his work in economics, Ekelund is an artist who has shown regularly in juried and other shows over the past two decades with solo and joint exhibitions in Alabama. Ekelund has also designed book covers for the University of Chicago Press and Edward Elgar Publishing in London. He is an avid art collector and curator whose collection has been exhibited in several museums. He was a founding member of the advisory board for the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art in Auburn, Alabama and was the museum's acting co-director from 2006 to 2007 and chairman of the Advisory Board from 2010 to 2012.

He is also a classically trained pianist and has recorded three albums for which he played Bösendorfer Imperial Concert Grand Piano, Solace (also called For The Piano), Reverie, and Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, performing works by Bach, Chopin, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Ravel, Grieg, Scott Joplin and others. He has been a contestant in the 2008, 2009 and 2012 Van Cliburn Amateur Competition and he created an homage to Chopin's 200th birthday on YouTube. His album Bach, Beethoven, Brahms was produced in 2010, along with a prelude by Claude Debussy from Book I in 2013.

Robert F. Hébert

Robert Francis Hébert, Ph.D. is the Russell Foundation Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies and professor of economics at Auburn University, Department of Economics. His skills and expertise are in the field of Austrian Economics, Entrepreneurial Economics, Entrepreneurship, Economic History, Law and History. History of Economic Thought.