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Marin Mersenne ( September 8, 1588 - September 1, 1648) was a French theologian, philosopher, mathematician and music theorist.

Born of peasant parents near Oize ( Sarthe), he was educated at the Jesuit College of La Flèche , where he was a fellow-pupil and friend of Descartes. In 1611 he joined the Minim Friars, and devoted himself to philosophic teaching in various convent schools, including NeversNevers is a commune of central France, the Prefecture (capital) of the Nievre departement in the former province of Burgundy. Nevers is located 159 m. Population: (1999) 43,082. History Noviodunum the early name of Nevers was in later times altered to Neb. He settled eventually in ParisEiffel Tower has become the symbol of Paris throughout the world. Paris is the capital and largest city of France. The city is built on an arc of the River Seine, and is thus divided into two parts: the Right Bank to the north and the smaller Left Bank to in 1620 at the convent of L'Annonciade. For the next four years he devoted himself entirely to philosophic and theological writing, and published Quaestiones celeberrimae in Genesim (1623); L'Impieté des déistes (1624); La Vérité des sciences (1624). It is sometimes incorrectly stated that he was a Jesuit; he was educated by Jesuits, but he never joined the Society of Jesus.

He taught theology and philosophy at Nevers and Paris.

Mersenne is today remembered thanks to his association with the Mersenne primes. However, he was not primarily a mathematician; he wrote about music theoryMusic theory is a set of systems for analyzing, classifying, and composing music and the elements of music. Narrowly it may be defined as the description in words of elements of music, and the interrelationship between the notation of music and performanc and other subjects. He edited works of EuclidEuclid of Alexandria ( Greek: Eukleides (circa 365 275 BC) was a Greek mathematician, now known as "the father of geometry". His most famous work is the Elements widely considered to be history's most successful textbook. Within it, the properties of geom, ArchimedesSee also Archimedes computer, Archimedes (disambiguation). Archimedes of Syracuse (circa 287 BC 212 BC), was a Greek mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, physicist and engineer. He was killed by a Roman soldier during the sack of the city, despite orde, and other Greek mathematicians. But his perhaps most important contribution to the advance of learning was his extensive correspondence (in LatinAlternative meanings: See Latin (disambiguation Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. It gained great importance as the formal language of the Roman Empire. All Romance languages are descended from Latin, and ma, of course) with mathematicians and other scientists in many countries. At a time when the scientific journalA scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. Most journals are highly specialized, although some of the oldest journals such as Nature publish articles and scientific pape had not yet come into being, Mersenne was the center of a network for exchange of information.

His philosophical works are characterized by wide scholarship and the narrowest theological orthodoxy. His greatest service to philosophy was his enthusiastic defence of Descartes, whose agent he was in Paris and whom he visited in exile in HollandThis article is about the region in the Netherlands. For other uses, see Holland (disambiguation). Holland is the name of a region in the central-western part of the Netherlands. Holland is a former county of the Holy Roman Empire and later the leading me. He submitted to various eminent Parisian thinkers a manuscript copy of the Meditations, and defended its orthodoxy against numerous clerical critics. In later life, he gave up speculative thought and turned to scientific research, especially in mathematics, physics and astronomy. Of his works in this connection the best known is L'Harmonie universelle (1636) dealing with the theory of music and musical instruments.

Among his other works are: Euclidis elementorum libri, etc. (Paris, 1626); Universae geometriae synopsis (1644); Les Mécaniques de Galilée (Paris, 1634); Questions inomes ou recreations des savants (1634); Questions théologiques, physiques, etc. (1634); Nouvelles découvertes de Galilée (1639); Cogitata physico-mathematica (1644).

See Baillet, Vie de Descartes (1691); Poté, Éloge de Mersenne (1816).

In music, he suggested as the ratio for a semitone. It was more accurate than Vincenzo Galilei's 18/17 and could be constructed with straightedge and compass.

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. 1911 Britannica