Letters on the English author of "Novum Organum" and father of experimental philosophy. Letter 13 is about John Locke and his theories on the immortality of the soul. Letter 14 compares British philosopher Isaac Newton to French philosopher René Descartes. Upon his death in 1727, Newton was compared to Descartes in a eulogy performed by French philosopher Fontenelle. While the British did not appreciate this comparison, Voltaire argues that Descartes, too, was a great philosopher and mathematician. Letter 15 focuses on Newton's law of universal gravitation. Letter 16 talks about Newton's work with optics. Letter 17 discusses Newton's work with geometry and his theories
Leo the Mathematician Leo the Mathematician Leo the Mathematician or the Philosopher ( or ὁ Φιλόσοφος, "Léōn ho Mathēmatikós" or "ho Philósophos"; c. 790 – after 869) was a Byzantine philosopher and logician associated with the Macedonian Renaissance and the end of the Second Byzantine Iconoclasm. His only preserved writings are some notes contained in manuscripts of Plato's dialogues. He has been called a "true Renaissance man" and "the cleverest man in Byzantium in the 9th century". He was archbishop of Thessalonica and later became the head of the Magnaura School of philosophy in Constantinople, where he taught Aristotelian logic. Leo was born