Gottfried Leibniz 1646 – 1716

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a 17th-century German polymath and one of the leading rationalist philosophers of the early modern period. He invented infinitesimal calculus independently of Newton and developed binary number theory, foundational to modern computing. His metaphysics is built around the concept of monads, simple substances that constitute reality, and the principle that this is the best of all possible worlds. He made significant contributions to logic, mathematics, theology, and law, and corresponded with most leading thinkers of his age. Leibniz's philosophical optimism was famously satirized in Voltaire's Candide.