Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646 - 1716) is the greatest mathematician of the Grand Siècle and the inventor of computer arithmetic. Above all, he is a divine metaphysician whose anti-modern philosophy defended the universal principles of reason against free thinking. He is often considered the last universal genius. "When one compares the talents one has with those of a Leibniz, one is tempted to throw away one's books and go die quietly in the dark of some forgotten corner" - DIDEROT, Oeuvres complètes, v. 7, p. 678.