Scientists in Paris
The atlas holds 30 people and 102 moments here, from 1377 to 2006. The most recorded lives are Marie Curie, Louis Pasteur and Montesquieu.
Notable people
Marie Curie
from 1891 to 1921
10 moments here
Polish-born, naturalized-French physicist and chemist who pioneered research on radioactivity. With Pierre Curie she discovered polonium and radium.…
Louis Pasteur
from 1838 to 1895
10 moments here
French chemist and microbiologist whose work on molecular asymmetry, fermentation, germ theory, pasteurization, and vaccines transformed modern…
Montesquieu
from 1709 to 1755
8 moments here
Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu, was a French jurist, historian, and political philosopher.…
Karl Marx
from 1843 to 1882
7 moments here
German philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. Born in Trier, Marx studied in Bonn and Berlin, worked in Cologne, and…
René Descartes
from 1616 to 1648
7 moments here
French philosopher, mathematician, and natural philosopher whose methodic doubt, mind-body distinction, analytic techniques, and mechanical account…
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
from 1742 to 1776
7 moments here
Genevan philosopher, writer, composer, and a major figure of the European Enlightenment. Rousseau’s documented movements ranged across Geneva, Savoy,…
Benjamin Franklin
from 1767 to 1784
6 moments here
American printer, scientist, civic leader, colonial agent, revolutionary statesman, and diplomat.…
Blaise Pascal
from 1631 to 1662
6 moments here
French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and Catholic writer. Pascal spent his life principally between Clermont-Ferrand, Paris,…
John Locke
from 1675 to 1678
4 moments here
English philosopher, physician, and political writer. Locke was born in Somerset, educated in London and Oxford, served Lord Shaftesbury in London,…
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
from 1672 to 1676
3 moments here
German polymath, philosopher, mathematician, jurist, diplomat, court councillor, historian, and librarian.…
Mikhail Gorbachev
from 1976 to 1985
3 moments here
Soviet and Russian politician who led the Soviet Union from 1985 until its dissolution in 1991.…
Alfred Nobel
from 1850 to 1895
3 moments here
Swedish chemist, engineer, inventor, and industrialist Alfred Bernhard Nobel (1833–1896) developed dynamite and other explosives, built businesses…
Thomas Hobbes
from 1629 to 1647
3 moments here
English philosopher and political theorist, best known for Leviathan (1651). Hobbes’s documented movements include study at Oxford, European travel…
Giordano Bruno
from 1581 to 1586
3 moments here
Italian Renaissance philosopher, Dominican friar, writer, and cosmological theorist. Born at Nola, Bruno studied and lived in Italy, Switzerland,…
Charles Dickens
from 1846 to 1863
2 moments here
English novelist, journalist, editor, social reformer, actor and celebrated public reader. This chronology traces documented residences, workplaces,…
Adam Smith
from 1764 to 1766
2 moments here
Scottish moral philosopher and political economist of the Scottish Enlightenment, author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the…
Nikola Tesla
from 1882 to 1889
2 moments here
Serbian-American engineer and inventor best known for foundational work on alternating-current power systems, the induction motor, high-frequency…
Friedrich Engels
from 1844 to 1846
2 moments here
German philosopher, political theorist, revolutionary socialist, businessman, and Karl Marx’s lifelong collaborator.…
Kofi Annan
from 1998 to 2006
2 moments here
Ghanaian diplomat and statesman who served as Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006.…
Helen Keller
from 1931 to 1952
2 moments here
Helen Adams Keller was an American deafblind author, lecturer, disability-rights advocate, and political activist.…
Albert Einstein
in 1922
1 moment here
German-born theoretical physicist who transformed modern physics through special and general relativity, foundational work on quantum theory, and…
Charles Darwin
in 1827
1 moment here
English naturalist, geologist, and biologist whose observations during the global voyage of HMS Beagle and subsequent research led to his theory of…
Thomas Edison
in 1889
1 moment here
American inventor and industrialist whose laboratories developed and commercialized technologies in telegraphy, recorded sound, electric lighting and…
Carl Linnaeus
in 1738
1 moment here
Swedish botanist, physician, and naturalist who formalized binomial nomenclature and devised an influential system for classifying organisms.…
Moments
- 1377 Peace mission to Paris Geoffrey Chaucer
- 1576 Diplomatic journey to Paris Francis Bacon
- 1581 Thirty lectures in Paris Giordano Bruno
- 1585 Return to Paris with Castelnau Giordano Bruno
- 1586 Disputation at the Collège de Cambrai Giordano Bruno
- 1616 Moves to Paris after university René Descartes
- 1622 Visits Paris during property settlement René Descartes
- 1625 Settles again in Paris René Descartes
- 1628 Meets Bérulle after returning to Paris René Descartes
- 1629 Tutor in Paris Thomas Hobbes
- 1631 Family relocation to Paris Blaise Pascal
- 1639 Presentation at a Mersenne meeting Blaise Pascal
- 1640 Exile in Paris Thomas Hobbes
- 1644 Visits Paris during a French journey René Descartes
- 1647 Mathematical instructor to the Prince of Wales Thomas Hobbes
- 1647 Return to Paris and meeting with Descartes Blaise Pascal
- 1647 Meets Pascal in Paris René Descartes
- 1648 Barometer experiment at Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie Blaise Pascal
- 1648 Return to Paris during the Fronde Blaise Pascal
- 1648 Arrives in Fronde-era Paris René Descartes
- 1662 Death in Paris Blaise Pascal
- 1672 Departs for Paris Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1673 Returns to Paris from London Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1675 Arrival in Paris on French journey John Locke
- 1676 Leaves Paris for Hanover service Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1677 Arrival in Paris as tutor John Locke
- 1678 Departure from Paris toward Rome John Locke
- 1678 Return to Paris after abandoned Rome journey John Locke
- 1709 Scholarly residence in Paris Montesquieu
- 1726 Move to Paris after sale of office Montesquieu
- 1727 Letter from Paris Montesquieu
- 1728 Departure for Vienna Montesquieu
- 1734 Residence in Paris while preparing later work Montesquieu
- 1738 Botanical visit in Paris Carl Linnaeus
- 1739 Letter from Paris to Niccolini Montesquieu
- 1742 Presentation to the Académie des Sciences Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- 1745 Return to Paris and relationship with Thérèse Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- 1749 Visits to Diderot at Vincennes Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- 1754 Final visit to Paris Montesquieu
- 1755 Death in Paris Montesquieu
- 1759 Residence at Château de Montmorency Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- 1764 First arrival in Paris Adam Smith
- 1765 Paris stay with the Prince of Conti Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- 1766 Second Paris residence and intellectual meetings Adam Smith
- 1767 Visit to Paris Benjamin Franklin
- 1770 Final Paris residence on Rue Platrière Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- 1776 Carriage accident in Paris Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- 1776 American commissioner in Passy Benjamin Franklin
- 1778 Treaties with France Benjamin Franklin
- 1783 Hydrogen-balloon flight witness Benjamin Franklin