Claim profile
1600–1699

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 Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.

CountryAll🇫🇷 France🇩🇪 Germany🇬🇧 United Kingdom🇯🇵 Japan🇹🇷 Turkey🇳🇱 Netherlands🇪🇸 Spain🇮🇹 Italy🇸🇪 Sweden🇮🇳 India
FieldAllWritersPoliticiansHistorical FiguresArtistsAcademicsScientistsMusiciansReligious FiguresActorsModels
  1. 1Maria Sibylla MerianMaria Sibylla Merian1647–1717 · 🇳🇱 Netherlands · Scientists9 decades
  2. 2Antonie van LeeuwenhoekAntonie van Leeuwenhoek1632–1723 · 🇳🇱 Netherlands · Scientists7 decades
  3. 3Menno van CoehoornMenno van Coehoorn1641–1704 · 🇳🇱 Netherlands · Scientists0 decades
  4. 4Claes Janszoon Visscher IIClaes Janszoon Visscher II1586–1652 · 🇳🇱 Netherlands · Scientistsnot measured—
  5. 5Nicolaas HartsoekerNicolaas Hartsoeker1656–1725 · 🇳🇱 Netherlands · Scientists0 decades
  6. 6Constantijn Huygens Jr.Constantijn Huygens Jr.1628–1697 · 🇳🇱 Netherlands · Scientists0 decades
  7. 7Hendrik Hondius IHendrik Hondius I1573–1650 · 🇳🇱 Netherlands · Scientists0 decades
  8. 8Henrik RuseHenrik Ruse1624–1679 · 🇳🇱 Netherlands · Scientists0 decades
  9. 9Willem ten RhijneWillem ten Rhijne1647–1700 · 🇳🇱 Netherlands · Scientistsnot measured—
  10. 10Johannes van KeulenJohannes van Keulen1654–1715 · 🇳🇱 Netherlands · Scientistsnot measured—
  11. 11Johan SemsJohan Sems1572–1635 · 🇳🇱 Netherlands · Scientists0 decades
  12. 12Pieter Mortier IPieter Mortier I1661–1711 · 🇳🇱 Netherlands · Scientistsnot measured—
  13. 13Franz KiggelaerFranz Kiggelaer1648–1722 · 🇳🇱 Netherlands · Scientistsnot measured—
  14. 14FTFrans Tengnagel1576–1622 · 🇳🇱 Netherlands · Scientistsnot measured—
  15. 15Adolphus VorstiusAdolphus Vorstius1597–1663 · 🇳🇱 Netherlands · Scientistsnot measured—
  16. 16Joannes Antonides van der LindenJoannes Antonides van der Linden1609–1664 · 🇳🇱 Netherlands · Scientistsnot measured—

How this is measured

  • Placing people in time. Each person belongs to the century in which they were most active — around age 35, and never after their death.
  • Who ranks highest. Within a century, people are ranked where two independent signals agree: how many of the world’s Wikipedia language editions cover them, and how many people actually read about them. Article counts alone can be lifted by a person’s own circle; readers cannot.
  • Fame in print. The curves count how often a name appears in Google Books from 1800 to 2019, as a share of all the words printed each year, in the person’s own language wherever that corpus exists. Those decades are over, so each measurement is made once and kept.
  • What is left out. A lifetime is measured only from 1820, when there is enough print to judge; the five years after a death are skipped as obituaries; and a name shared with someone equally notable is credited to neither.