Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716) was a German philosopher, mathematician, jurist, historian, and political adviser. After studying law and philosophy, he worked, among other roles, as a diplomat, court councillor, and librarian. He developed key foundations of infinitesimal calculus and designed a calculating machine capable of the four basic arithmetic operations; in recognition of his scientific work, he was admitted to the Royal Society in London. His major philosophical works include the Theodicy (1710) and the Monadology. Leibniz is regarded as one of the most important thinkers of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries and as a significant precursor of the Enlightenment. As a child, he taught himself Latin.