jan 1, 1707 - Georges-Louis Leclerc --- 1707-1788
Leclerc wrote an encyclopedia called Histoire
Naturelle, though he only published 36 of 50
before he died. He wrote the encyclopedia on his
own, not on the opinions of others or the Bible. He
used Newton’s Laws of Motion to lead him to
believe that each of the planets were pieces of the
sun, caused by a comet colliding with the Sun. He
believed that the Earth was scorching until clouds
rained to create the oceans and the molten rock
turned into dry land. He also claimed t
