Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz

Born:1 July 1646 in Leipzig, Saxony (now Germany)
Died: 14 Nov 1716 in Hannover, Hanover (now Germany)

   
    In 1661 Leibniz entered the University of Leipzig, where he studied philosophy, mathematics and law. He was refused a dissertation in Leipzig (possibly because of  his age or because of the malice of the Dean's wife) and he matriculated in the faculty of law in the University of Altdorf, situated in Nürnberg.
    Leibniz refused an offer of professorship in the University of Altdorf and planned to set out to travel the first stop being Holland. After that to France where he became acquainted with many great figures of science at the time. In 1673 Leibniz visited London, where he promoted his ideas about calculus and calculating machine. Leibniz's calculating machine was an improvement to Pascal's machine, since it could perform four basic arithmetical operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) whereas Pascal's machine was able only to perform addition and subtraction. Leibniz was never able to craft his machine absolutely secure. He had also other technical projects during his time in Paris, such as a device, which could give a definition of a ship's geographical position without a compass, a plan of an underwater vessel and a kind of a tank propelled by gunpowder. Leibniz considered also the possibilities of space flights but rejected the plan due to thinness of air.
    Leibniz returned to Paris for another three years concentrating in the study of mathematics with the aid of Christian Huygens. His intensive work led to the idea of the infinitesimal calculus (integral and differential mathematics), which was discovered independently of Isaac Newton, who also stumbled into this novel arithmetics which was to mark a turning point in mathematics.
    Among other duties and other travels between Hanover and France, Leibniz was busy with chemistry and technical applications.

    The last years of Leibniz were troubled by goat, which he had suffered from the age of fifty and arthritis. He died in the age of 70 on 14. November 1716, 10 p.m.  The funerals were very modest and only one mourner appeared : Leibniz assistant Eckhart.

You can find more about Leonardo Leibniz here.