Fontenelle, Bernard le Bovier de (Fontenelle Bernard Le Bovier de)

(1657-1757)
Born February 11, 1657 in Rouen. He played a prominent role in the salons of Paris and famous for its ability to combine the elegance of style with the scientific thoroughness. In 1697 became the permanent secretary of the French Academy, and in that capacity wrote a history of the Academy of Praise and academics (loges des Acadmiciens) - an important source of information on the history of science.
His Dialogues of the dead (Dialogues des morts, 1683) consist of imaginary conversations between famous people of the past. Free discourse about ancient and modern (Digression sur les anciens et les modernes, 1688) challenged the belief that the higher antiquity of modernity in art, and contended that it is lower in science and philosophy. Conversations on the plurality of worlds (Entretiens sur la pluralit des mondes, 1686) - to popularize the ideas of Copernicus and the presentation of some of the revolutionary consequences of these ideas in the philosophy. The origin of fables (L'Origines des fables, 1724) and History of oracles (L'Histoire des oracles, 1686) Fontenelle considered ancient myths with the rationalist point of view. He paved the way for the Enlightenment struggle against prejudice; advocated the methodical doubt, for the verification of facts and critical spirit that should have been, in his opinion, cause all human beliefs into harmony with the mind.

Fontenelle died in Paris on July 9, 1757.