1588-1648

French Mathematician

As a mathematician and scientist, Marin Mersenne was far from the equal of his more well-known friends and acquaintances, including Galileo (1564-1642), René Descartes (1596-1650), Pierre de Fermat (1601-1665), Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), and Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695). Yet without Mersenne, the world would know far less about these giants: in a time when there were no scientific journals, Mersenne served as a disseminator of knowledge. An avid correspondent, he also conducted weekly scientific discussions in Paris that became the basis for the French Académie Royale des Sciences. In addition, he inspired investigations into number theory and prime numbers, as well as Huygens's invention of the pendulum clock.

Mersenne was born on September 8, 1588, near the town of Oize in France, and at the age of 23 became a Catholic friar. While in school, he met Descartes, destined to become a lifelong friend. He also became...