wing of the archive
The Early Modern Era
Navigators, reformers, and the first scientists, from the Renaissance to the age of revolutions.
Early Modern era
Leonhard Euler
April 15, 1707 – September 18, 1783
Swiss mathematician, physicist, and engineer (1707–1783)
Early Modern era
Carl Friedrich Gauss
April 30, 1777 – February 23, 1855
German mathematician and physicist (1777–1855)
Early Modern era
Pierre de Fermat
August 17, 1601 – January 12, 1665
French mathematician and lawyer
Early Modern era
Blaise Pascal
June 19, 1623 – August 19, 1662
French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer, and Christian philosopher (1623-1662)
Early Modern era
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
June 21, 1646 – November 14, 1716
Co-inventor of calculus and pioneer of computation
Early Modern era
Michael Faraday
September 22, 1791 – August 25, 1867
British scientist (1791–1867)
Early Modern era
Christiaan Huygens
April 14, 1629 – July 8, 1695
Dutch mathematician, physicist and astronomer (1629–1695)
Early Modern era
Robert Hooke
July 18, 1635 – March 3, 1703
English natural philosopher, architect and polymath (1635 — 1703)
Early Modern era
Robert Boyle
January 25, 1627 – December 31, 1691
Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, and inventor
Early Modern era
Alessandro Volta
February 18, 1745 – March 5, 1827
Italian chemist and physicist (1745–1827)
Early Modern era
Andre-Marie Ampere
January 20, 1775 – June 10, 1836
French physicist and mathematician (1775–1836)
Early Modern era
Georg Ohm
March 16, 1789 – July 6, 1854
German physicist and mathematician
Early Modern era
Antoine Lavoisier
August 26, 1743 – May 8, 1794
French nobleman and chemist (1743–1794)
Early Modern era
John Dalton
September 6, 1766 – July 27, 1844
British chemist and mathematician (1766–1844)
Early Modern era
Amedeo Avogadro
August 9, 1776 – July 9, 1856
Italian scientist
Early Modern era
Humphry Davy
December 17, 1778 – May 29, 1829
British chemist
Early Modern era
Joseph Priestley
March 13, 1733 – February 6, 1804
English chemist, theologian, educator, and political theorist (1733–1804)
Early Modern era
Anders Celsius
November 27, 1701 – April 25, 1744
Swedish astronomer, physicist, and naturalist (1701-1744)
Early Modern era
Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit
May 24, 1686 – September 16, 1736
German-Polish physicist and engineer (1686-1736)
Early Modern era
Carl Linnaeus
May 23, 1707 – January 10, 1778
Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist (1707–1778)
Early Modern era
Alexander von Humboldt
September 14, 1769 – May 6, 1859
Prussian geographer, naturalist and explorer (1769–1859)
Early Modern era
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
August 1, 1744 – December 18, 1829
French naturalist (1744-1829)
Early Modern era
Mary Anning
May 21, 1799 – March 9, 1847
British fossil collector and palaeontologist (1799–1847)
Early Modern era
William Harvey
April 1, 1578 – June 3, 1657
English physician (1578-1657)
Early Modern era
Andreas Vesalius
December 31, 1514 – October 16, 1564
Flemish anatomist, physician and author (1514–1564)
Early Modern era
Edward Jenner
May 17, 1749 – January 26, 1823
English physician, scientist and pioneer of vaccination (1749–1823)
Early Modern era
James Watt
January 19, 1736 – August 25, 1819
British engineer (1736–1819)
Early Modern era
George Stephenson
June 9, 1781 – August 12, 1848
English civil and mechanical engineer and the "Father of Railways" (1781-1848)
Early Modern era
Eli Whitney
December 8, 1765 – January 8, 1825
American inventor (1765-1825)
Early Modern era
Samuel Morse
April 27, 1791 – April 2, 1872
American inventor and painter (1791–1872)
Early Modern era
Charles Babbage
December 26, 1791 – October 18, 1871
English mathematician, philosopher, and engineer (1791–1871)
Early Modern era
Benjamin Banneker
November 9, 1731 – October 9, 1806
Free African American scientist, surveyor, almanac author and farmer (1731–1806)
Early Modern era
Michel de Montaigne
February 28, 1533 – September 12, 1592
French author, philosopher, and statesman (1533–1592)
Early Modern era
Miguel de Cervantes
September 29, 1547 – April 22, 1616
Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright (1547-1616)
Early Modern era
William Shakespeare
1564 – April 23, 1616
English playwright and poet, the most performed dramatist in history
Early Modern era
Christopher Marlowe
February 6, 1564 – May 30, 1593
English dramatist, poet and translator (1564–1593)
Early Modern era
John Donne
1572 – March 31, 1631
English poet and cleric (1572–1631)
Early Modern era
John Milton
December 9, 1608 – November 8, 1674
English poet and civil servant (1608–1674)
Early Modern era
Moliere
January 15, 1622 – February 17, 1673
French playwright and actor (1622–1673)
Early Modern era
René Descartes
March 31, 1596 – February 11, 1650
French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist (1596–1650)
Early Modern era
Thomas Hobbes
April 5, 1588 – December 4, 1679
English philosopher (1588–1679)
Early Modern era
John Locke
August 29, 1632 – October 28, 1704
English philosopher and physician (1632-1704)
Early Modern era
Baruch Spinoza
November 24, 1632 – February 21, 1677
Dutch philosopher (1632-1677)
Early Modern era
Voltaire
November 21, 1694 – May 30, 1778
French Enlightenment writer and fighter for reason and tolerance
Early Modern era
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
June 28, 1712 – July 2, 1778
Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer (1712-1778)
Early Modern era
David Hume
April 26, 1711 – August 25, 1776
Scottish philosopher, economist, and historian (1711-1776)
Early Modern era
Adam Smith
June 5, 1723 – July 17, 1790
Scottish moral philosopher and political economist (1723–1790)
Early Modern era
Immanuel Kant
April 22, 1724 – February 12, 1804
German philosopher of the categorical imperative and human reason
Early Modern era
Edmund Burke
January 12, 1729 – July 9, 1797
Anglo-Irish statesman, political theorist and conservative philosopher (1729–1797)
Early Modern era
Thomas Paine
February 9, 1737 – June 8, 1809
American Founding Father, philosopher, and political activist (1737–1809)
Early Modern era
Mary Wollstonecraft
April 27, 1759 – September 10, 1797
English writer and intellectual (1759–1797)
Early Modern era
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
August 28, 1749 – March 22, 1832
German writer, artist, natural scientist and politician (1749–1832)
Early Modern era
Friedrich Schiller
November 10, 1759 – May 9, 1805
German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian (1759–1805)
Early Modern era
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
August 27, 1770 – November 14, 1831
German philosopher and theologian (1770–1831)
Early Modern era
Arthur Schopenhauer
February 22, 1788 – September 21, 1860
German philosopher (1788-1860)
Early Modern era
William Blake
November 28, 1757 – August 12, 1827
English poet and artist (1757–1827)
Early Modern era
Robert Burns
January 25, 1759 – July 21, 1796
Scottish poet and lyricist (1759–1796)
Early Modern era
William Wordsworth
April 7, 1770 – April 23, 1850
English Romantic poet (1770–1850)
Early Modern era
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
October 21, 1772 – July 25, 1834
English poet, literary critic and philosopher (1772–1834)
Early Modern era
Lord Byron
January 22, 1788 – April 19, 1824
English Romantic poet and lyricist (1788–1824)