Beer was born in Binic, France in 1915.

[1][2] He received a Masters of Science degree from the

Sorbonne and conducted post-graduate work at Brown University. From the University of Geneva in
Switzerland, he earned a mathematics license in 1935 and a Doctor of Science degree in 1937.[1] Beer
served in the French Army during the Second World War before moving to the United States and took a
job at Williams College. He remained there for four years, where taught as part of the school's
collaborative arts/engineering program with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[3]