← Fame through time1600-1699
The 17th century
Whose working lives fell in the 17th century. Books are measured from 1800 and readers from 2015, so for this period we can say who lived then, not who was talked about then.
Lived then
The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 17th century, ranked where coverage and readership agree.
- 1
Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban2 decades - 2
Denis Papin19 decades - 3
Edme Mariotte0 decades - 4
Joseph Pitton de Tournefort5 decades - 5
Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville6 decades - 6
Jean Picard22 decades - 7
Guillaume Amontons0 decades - 8
Charles Plumier3 decades - 9
Nicolas Sanson19 decades - 10
Pierre Magnol1 decades - 11
Philippe de La Hire4 decades - 12
Nicolas Lemery11 decades - 13Laurent Cassegrainnot measured-
- 14
Guy-Crescent Fagon0 decades - 15Martine Bertereau1 decades
- 16
Jean Richer21 decades - 17
Marie Meurdrac0 decades - 18Joseph Sauveur5 decades
- 19
Joachim Bouvet1 decades - 20Melchisédech Thévenot2 decades
- 21
Adrien Auzout0 decades - 22
Étienne de Flacourt2 decades - 23
Nicolas de Fer6 decades - 24
Alain Manesson Mallet0 decades - 25
Louis Feuilléenot measured- - 26Jean-François Gerbillon0 decades
- 27
Jean-Baptiste Morinnot measured- - 28Jean-Baptiste Régis0 decades
- 29Claude Buffier3 decades
- 30
Denis of the Nativity8 decades - 31
Guy de La Brosse7 decades - 32
Louis le Comte1 decades - 33Jeanne Dumée0 decades
- 34
Alexis Hubert Jaillotnot measured- - 35
Jacques Rohault11 decades - 36
Ignace-Gaston Pardies0 decades - 37
Henri Gautier10 decades - 38
Denis Dodart1 decades - 39
Michel Sarrazinnot measured- - 40
Pierre Duval22 decades - 41
Emmanuel Maignannot measured- - 42
Jacques Barreliernot measured- - 43Jean de Hautefeuillenot measured-
- 44
François Andréossy2 decades - 45
Jean Bourdonnot measured- - 46Jean-Baptiste Du Tertrenot measured-
- 47
Nicolas de La Marenot measured- - 48
François Dollier de Cassonnot measured- - 49
Paul Fréart de Chantelounot measured- - 50Adrien de Paugernot measured-
- 51
Clément Métezeaunot measured- - 52
Jacques Philippe Cornutnot measured- - 53Augustin Royernot measured-
- 54Claude Duretnot measured-
- 55
Sébastien Pontault de Beaulieunot measured- - 56Philippus Brietiusnot measured-
- 57Nicholas Briotnot measured-
- 58Antoine-Tristan Danty d'Isnardnot measured-
- 59
Nicolas Bionnot measured- - 60
Joachim d'Alencénot measured- - 61Pierre Angonot measured-
How to read these rankings
- Attention, not reputation. A place on these lists reflects the attention a person still draws in the public record. It is not a judgement on the life.
- Fame in print. The curves show how often a name appeared in the books of each decade from 1800 to 2019, drawn from the Google Books Ngram corpus.
- Gaps are left as gaps. Where the record is too thin to be fair, we would rather show nothing than guess.