Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz invented the calculus independently of Newton, designed a calculating machine, served the dukes of Hanover as librarian, historian and diplomat, and corresponded with half of learned Europe, mostly in French and Latin. His philosophy survives in short pieces rather than a system: the Discourse on Metaphysics, the Monadology, with its windowless monads and pre-established harmony, and the New Essays, a running reply to Locke that he suppressed when Locke died. Voltaire mocked his claim that this is the best of all possible worlds; the lists read the argument behind the joke.