← Fame through time1700-1799
The 18th century
Whose working lives fell in the 18th 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 18th century, ranked where coverage and readership agree.
- 1
Marquis de Sade12 decades - 2
Montesquieu22 decades - 3
Jeremy Bentham22 decades - 4
Denis Diderot21 decades - 5
Pierre-Simon Laplace2 decades - 6
Joseph-Louis Lagrange0 decades - 7
Marquis de Condorcet1 decades - 8
Henry Cavendish22 decades - 9
Joseph de Maistre21 decades - 10
Henri de Saint-Simonnot measured- - 11
Jean le Rond d'Alembert7 decades - 12
Lazare Carnot14 decades - 13
Anne Robert Jacques Turgot2 decades - 14
Adrien-Marie Legendre0 decades - 15
Gaspard Monge22 decades - 16
Abraham de Moivre0 decades - 17
Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuisnot measured- - 18
François Quesnay14 decades - 19
Johann Heinrich Lambert2 decades - 20
Claude Adrien Helvétius0 decades - 21
Étienne Bonnot de Condillac1 decades - 22
Louis de Bonald7 decades - 23
Pierre André Latreille1 decades - 24
Constantin-François Chassebœufnot measured- - 25
Alexis Clairaut0 decades - 26
Antoine Destutt de Tracy0 decades - 27
Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemoursnot measured- - 28
Pierre Jean George Cabanis0 decades - 29
Jean-Charles de Borda3 decades - 30
Louis-Claude de Saint-Martinnot measured- - 31
Gabriel Bonnot de Mably3 decades - 32
Jacques Cazotte15 decades - 33Alexandre-Théophile Vandermonde0 decades
- 34
Louis de Jaucourt3 decades - 35
Jean Astruc13 decades - 36
Étienne-Gabriel Morelly0 decades - 37
Gaspard de Prony0 decades - 38
Théophile Corret de la Tour d'Auvergnenot measured- - 39Vincent de Gournay13 decades
- 40Joseph de Guignes2 decades
- 41
Jean-Étienne Montucla0 decades - 42
Charles-François Dupuis0 decades - 43Marc-Antoine Parsevalnot measured-
- 44
Nicolas Louis François de Neufchâteau0 decades - 45
Simon L'Huilier0 decades - 46
Christian Kramp0 decades - 47
Robert Joseph Pothier0 decades - 48Charles Batteux4 decades
- 49
Antoine de Chézy0 decades - 50
Pierre Raymond de Montmort0 decades
- 51
Honoré Fragonard13 decades - 52
Joseph Marie Terray0 decades - 53
Hyacinthe Sigismond Gerdil13 decades - 54
François Cabarrus, 1st Count of Cabarrús1 decades - 55
César Chesneau Dumarsais0 decades - 56Jean-Baptiste Robinetnot measured-
- 57Louis François Antoine Arbogastnot measured-
- 58
Pierre Louis Roederernot measured- - 59
Bernard Forest de Bélidor0 decades - 60
Charles Bossut2 decades - 61
Claude Sicard5 decades - 62
Jean Baptiste Meusniernot measured- - 63Étienne Fourmont0 decades
- 64
Florent-Jean de Vallièrenot measured- - 65
Jacob Benignus Winslow0 decades - 66
Sextius Alexandre François de Miollisnot measured-
- 67Nicolas Antoine Boulanger0 decades
- 68
Théodore Cornutnot measured- - 69
Pierre-Paul Lemercier de La Rivière de Saint-Médardnot measured- - 70
Léger Marie Deschampsnot measured- - 71
Nicolas Baudeau1 decades - 72Marie Crous1 decades
- 73
Vittorio Fossombroninot measured- - 74
Jean Barbeyracnot measured-
- 75
Jean-Baptiste de La Chapellenot measured- - 76
François Jacquier6 decades - 77
Philibert Orrynot measured- - 78
Giovanni Fabbroninot measured- - 79
François Véron Duverger de Forbonnaisnot measured- - 80
Jean-Baptiste Gaspard d'Ansse de Villoisonnot measured- - 81
Peter Stephen Du Ponceaunot measured- - 82
Jean Baptiste d'Agincourtnot measured- - 83
Yves Marie André0 decades - 84
Jérémie Jacques Oberlinnot measured- - 85
Antoine Deparcieuxnot measured- - 86Antoine Parentnot measured-
- 87Pierre Lemonniernot measured-
- 88
Jean-François Melonnot measured-
- 89
Johann Schweighäusernot measured- - 90
Jean-Baptiste-Claude Delisle de Salesnot measured- - 91Jacques d'Allonvillenot measured-
- 92
Joseph Chabrannot measured- - 93Jean Jacques Antoine Caussin de Percevalnot measured-
- 94
Nicolas-Étienne Framerynot measured- - 95François Peyrardnot measured-
- 96
Marie-Thérèse de La Ferté-Imbaultnot measured- - 97
Louis-Jacques Goussiernot measured- - 98
Guillaume Le Blond0 decades - 99Jean Baptiste Lefebvre de Villebrunenot measured-
- 100
Nicholas Halmanot 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.