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PHILOSOPHER

Pierre Gassendi

1592 - 1655

Photo of Pierre Gassendi

Icon of person Pierre Gassendi

Pierre Gassendi (French: [pjɛʁ gasɛ̃di]; also Pierre Gassend, Petrus Gassendi, Petrus Gassendus; 22 January 1592 – 24 October 1655) was a French philosopher, Catholic priest, astronomer, and mathematician. While he held a church position in south-east France, he also spent much time in Paris, where he was a leader of a group of free-thinking intellectuals. He was also an active observational scientist, publishing the first data on the transit of Mercury in 1631. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Pierre Gassendi has received more than 329,145 page views. His biography is available in 50 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 49 in 2019). Pierre Gassendi is the 176th most popular philosopher (up from 197th in 2019), the 359th most popular biography from France (up from 430th in 2019) and the 20th most popular French Philosopher.

Gassendi is most famous for his atomism. He argued that atoms are the fundamental building blocks of matter and that they are indivisible. He also argued that atoms are not eternal and that they can be created and destroyed.

Memorability Metrics

  • 330k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 69.55

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 50

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 11.32

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 2.44

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Page views of Pierre Gassendis by language


Among PHILOSOPHERS

Among philosophers, Pierre Gassendi ranks 176 out of 1,081Before him are Max Scheler, Jean Buridan, Julien Offray de La Mettrie, Karl Kautsky, Solomon ibn Gabirol, and José Ortega y Gasset. After him are Max Horkheimer, Claude Adrien Helvétius, Emmanuel Levinas, Posidonius, Hippasus, and Han Fei.

Most Popular Philosophers in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1592, Pierre Gassendi ranks 4Before him are John Amos Comenius, Shah Jahan, and Hong Taiji. After him are Wilhelm Schickard, Gerard van Honthorst, George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, Jacques Callot, Gustav Horn, Count of Pori, Catalina de Erauso, Peter Snayers, and Sophia Hedwig of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Among people deceased in 1655, Pierre Gassendi ranks 2Before him is Pope Innocent X. After him are Cyrano de Bergerac, Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg, Eleonora Gonzaga, Margaret of Savoy, Vicereine of Portugal, Cristóbal de Morales, Janusz Radziwiłł, Ukita Hideie, Eustache Le Sueur, Daniël Heinsius, and Francesco Molin.

Others Born in 1592

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Others Deceased in 1655

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In France

Among people born in France, Pierre Gassendi ranks 359 out of 6,011Before him are Julien Offray de La Mettrie (1709), Alfred Binet (1857), Constantine II (316), Jeanne Moreau (1928), Louis IV of France (920), and Baldwin I of Jerusalem (1058). After him are Pope Innocent V (1225), Léo Delibes (1836), Prosper Mérimée (1803), Claude Adrien Helvétius (1715), Alexis Carrel (1873), and Charles Le Brun (1619).

Among PHILOSOPHERS In France

Among philosophers born in France, Pierre Gassendi ranks 20Before him are Simone Weil (1909), Jean Baudrillard (1929), Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908), Paul Ricœur (1913), Jean Buridan (1295), and Julien Offray de La Mettrie (1709). After him are Claude Adrien Helvétius (1715), Ernest Renan (1823), Pierre Bayle (1647), Nicolas Malebranche (1638), Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881), and Marquis de Condorcet (1743).