THE CONNAISSANCE DES TEMPS: A FRENCH ASTRONOMICAL EPHEMERIS PUBLISHED SINCE 1679

In this paper we will follow the evolution and progress of French ephemerides from the first publication in 1679 of the yearly handbook, the <italic>Connaissance des temps</italic> (CDT), through to the present day. The CDT was created to provide ephemerides for users but it also became a scientific journal that explained how the ephemerides could improve their accuracy. To show this, we will track the evolution from kinematics to dynamics for modeling the motion of the main Solar System objects. We also will discuss the long-standing longitude problem, the improvement of the ephemerides, and the impact of the French Revolution on the content of the CDT.