Claim profile
1700–1799

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 Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.

CountryAll🇫🇷 France🇩🇪 Germany🇺🇸 United States🇬🇧 United Kingdom🇮🇹 Italy🇪🇸 Spain🇸🇪 Sweden🇯🇵 Japan🇹🇷 Turkey🇦🇹 Austria
FieldAllPoliticiansHistorical FiguresWritersScientistsMusiciansArtistsAcademicsArchitectsDoctorsReligious Figures
  1. 1Henric SchartauHenric Schartau1757–1825 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Religious Figuresnot measured—
  2. 2Erik Benzelius the YoungerErik Benzelius the Younger1675–1743 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Religious Figuresnot measured—
  3. 3Uno von TroilUno von Troil1746–1803 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Religious Figuresnot measured—
  4. 4Jacob BenzeliusJacob Benzelius1683–1747 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Religious Figuresnot measured—
  5. 5Henric BenzeliusHenric Benzelius1689–1758 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Religious Figuresnot measured—
  6. 6Magnus BeroniusMagnus Beronius1692–1775 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Religious Figuresnot measured—
  7. 7Israel AcreliusIsrael Acrelius1714–1800 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Religious Figuresnot measured—
  8. 8SLSamuel Linnaeus1718–1797 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Religious Figuresnot measured—
  9. 9CBClas Bjerkander1735–1795 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Religious Figuresnot measured—
  10. 10JFJohannes Forsskål1691–1762 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Religious Figuresnot measured—
  11. 11EDErik Dahl1749–1809 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Religious Figuresnot measured—
  12. 12TFTheodor Fries1762–1839 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Religious Figuresnot 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.