For other uses of Fontenelle, see Fontenelle (disambiguation).

Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle, also referred to as Bernard le Bouyer de Fontenelle (February 11, 1657–January 9, 1757) was a French author. Fontenelle can refer to: Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle (1657-1757), a French author Fontenelle is also the name or part of the name of several communes of France: Fontenelle, in the Aisne département Fontenelle, in the Côte-dOr département Fontenelle, in the Territoire-de-Belfort département Fontenelle-en... February 11 is the 42nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Events January 8 - Miles Sindercombe, would-be-assassin of Oliver Cromwell, and his group are captured in London February - Admiral Robert Blake defeats the Spanish West Indian Fleet in a battle over the seizure of Jamaica. ... January 9 is the 9th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1757 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... The word author has several meanings: The author of a book, story, article or the like, is the person who has written it (or is writing it). ...

Fontenelle was born in Rouen, Normandy. He died in Paris, having very nearly attained the age of 100 years. His mother was the sister of the great French dramatists Pierre Corneille and Thomas Corneille. He was educated at the college of the Jesuits in Rouen, where he distinguished himself. He was the son of a lawyer and as was the custom at the time he was trained in his father's profession. He gave up law after pleading one case, and spent the rest of his life as a philosopher and scientist in the Cartesian tradition. Location within France Rouen Cathedral The entrance to Rouen Cathedral Gros Horloge in Rouen Abbey church of Saint-Ouen, (chevet) in Rouen Rouen, medieval house Rouen (pronounced in French, sometimes also ) is the historical capital city of Normandy, in northwestern France, and presently the capital of the Haute-Normandie (Upper... Mont Saint Michel is a historic pilgrimage site and a symbol of Normandy Normandy is a geographical region in northern France. ... Pierre Corneille (June 6, 1606–October 1, 1684) was a French tragedian tragedian who was one of the three great 17th Century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine. ... Thomas Corneille (August 20, 1625 - December 8, 1709) was a French dramatist. ... The Society of Jesus (Latin: Societas Iesu), commonly known as the Jesuits, is a Roman Catholic religious order. ... Cartesian means of or relating to the French philosopher and mathematician René Descartes. ...

He began as a poet, and more than once competed for prizes of the Académie française, but never won anything. He visited Paris from time to time and became friendly with the abbé de Saint-Pierre, the abbé Vertot and the mathematician Pierre Varignon. He witnessed, in 1680, the total failure of his tragedy Aspar. Fontenelle afterwards acknowledged the public verdict by burning his unfortunate drama. His opera of Thetis et Pélée, 1689, though highly praised by Voltaire, was not much better; and it may be significant that none of his dramatic works is still performed. His Poésies pastorales (1688) are also mediocre. The Académie française, or French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. ... Pierre Varignon Pierre Varignon ( born in 1654 in Caen - died on December 23, 1722 in Paris) was a French mathematician. ... Events First Portuguese governor was appointed to Macau The Swedish city Karlskrona was founded as the Royal Swedish Navy relocated there. ... gszdgdegsd gdsffdfsd fdsf sdfdsf dfsd fd A tragedy may be defined loosely as any work of fiction in which the protagonist suffers a fall in his or her fortunes, and ends in a worse state than that in which they began. ... The foyer of Charles Garniers Opéra, Paris, opened 1875 Opera refers to a dramatic art form, originating in Europe, in which the emotional content is conveyed to the audience as much through music, both vocal and instrumental as it is through the lyrics. ... The last of Voltaires statues by Jean-Antoine Houdon (1781). ...

His Lettres galantes du chevalier d'Her ..., published anonymously in 1685, was an amusing collection of stories that immediately made its mark. In 1686 his famous allegory of Rome and Geneva, slightly disguised as the rival princesses Mreo and Eenegu, in the Relation de l'île de Borneo, gave proof of his daring in religious matters. But it was by his Nouveaux Dialogues des morts (1683) that Fontenelle established a genuine claim to high literary rank; and that claim was enhanced three years later by the appearance of the Entretiens sur la pluralité des mondes (Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds (1686). He wrote extensively on the nature of the universe: Behold a universe so immense that I am lost in it. I no longer know where I am. I am just nothing at all. Our world is terrifying in its insignificance. He led the French Academy of Sciences for a significant amount of time and is noted for the accessibility of his work - particularly its novelistic style. This allowed non-scientists to appreciate scientific development in a time where this was unusual. His object was to popularize the astronomical theories of René Descartes, whose greatest exponent he is sometimes considered. Events The League of Augsburg is founded. ... The deepest visible-light image of the cosmos. ... The French Academy of Sciences (Académie des sciences) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. ... DeFoes Robinson Crusoe, Newspaper edition published in 1719 A novel (from French nouvelle, new) is an extended fictional narrative in prose. ... Wikisource has original works written by or about: René Descartes Works by René Descartes at Project Gutenberg A summary of his book A Discourse On Method French French Audio Book (mp3) : excerpt about animals/machines from Discourse On the Method Discourse On the Method – at Project Gutenberg Selections from the...

Fontenelle had made his home in Rouen, but in 1687 he moved to Paris; and in the same year he published his Histoire des oracles, a book which made a considerable stir in theological and philosophical circles. It consisted of two essays, the first of which was designed to prove that oracles were not given by the supernatural agency of demons, and the second that they did not cease with the birth of Jesus. It excited the suspicion of the Church, and a Jesuit, by name Baltus, published a ponderous refutation of it; but the peace-loving disposition of its author impelled him to leave his opponent unanswered. To the following year (1688) belongs his Digression sur les anciens et les modernes, in which he took the modern side in the controversy then raging; his Doutes sur le système physique des causes occasionnelles (against Nicolas Malebranche) appeared shortly afterwards. Location within France Rouen Cathedral The entrance to Rouen Cathedral Gros Horloge in Rouen Abbey church of Saint-Ouen, (chevet) in Rouen Rouen, medieval house Rouen (pronounced in French, sometimes also ) is the historical capital city of Normandy, in northwestern France, and presently the capital of the Haute-Normandie (Upper... Jesus, also known as Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus Christ, is the central figure of Christianity and an important prophet in Islam. ... Nicolas Malebranche (August 6, 1638 – October 13, 1715) was a French philosopher of the Cartesian school. ...

Fontenelle was a popular figure in the educated French society of his period, holding a position of esteem comparable only to that of Voltaire. Unlike Voltaire however, Fontenelle avoided making important enemies. He balanced his penchant for universal critical thought with liberal doses of flattery and praise to the appropriate individuals in aristocratic society. The last of Voltaires statues by Jean-Antoine Houdon (1781). ...

In 1691 he was received into the French Academy in spite of the determined efforts of the partisans of the "ancients", especially Racine and Boileau, who on four previous occasions had ensured his rejection. He was thus a member both of the Academy of Inscriptions and of the Academy of Sciences; and in 1697 he became perpetual secretary to the latter, an office he held for forty-two years; and it was in this official capacity that he wrote the Histoire du renouvellement de l'Académie des Sciences (Paris, 3 vols., 1708, 1717, 1722) containing extracts and analyses of the proceedings, and also the éloges of the members, written with great simplicity and delicacy. Perhaps the best known of his éloges, of which there are sixty-nine in all, is that of his uncle Pierre Corneille. This was first printed in the Nouvelles de la republique des lettres (January 1685) and, as Vie de Corneille, was included in all the editions of Fontenelle's Œuvres. The other important works of Fontenelle are his Elements de la géometrie de l'infini (1727) and his Apologie des lourbillons (1752). Events March 5 - French troops under Marshal Louis-Francois de Boufflers besiege the Spanish-held town of Mons March 20 - Leislers Rebellion - New governor arrives in New York - Jacob Leisler surrenders after standoff of several hours March 29 - Siege of Mons ends to the city’s surrender May 6... The Académie française (French Academy) is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. ... The Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres is a French learned society founded in 1663 and concerned with the humanities. ... The French Academy of Sciences (Académie des sciences) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. ...

Fontenelle forms a link between two very widely different periods of French literature, that of Corneille, Racine and Boileau on the one hand, and that of Voltaire, D'Alembert and Diderot on the other. It is not in virtue of his great age alone that this can be said of him; he actually had much in common with the beaux esprits of the 17th century, as well as with the philosophes of the 18th. But it is to the latter rather than to the former period that he properly belongs. Pierre Corneille (June 6, 1606–October 1, 1684) was a French tragedian tragedian who was one of the three great 17th Century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine. ... Jean Racine (December 22, 1639 – April 21, 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the big three of 17th century France (along with Molière and Corneille). ... Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux, commonly called Boileau, (November 1, 1636 - March 13, 1711) was a French poet and critic. ... Jean le Rond dAlembert, pastel by Maurice Quentin de la Tour Jean Le Rond dAlembert (November 16, 1717 – October 29, 1783) was a French mathematician, mechanician, physicist and philosopher. ... Portrait of Diderot by Louis-Michel van Loo, 1767 Denis Diderot (October 5, 1713 – July 31, 1784) was a French philosopher and writer. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ...

He has no claim to be regarded as a genius; but, as SainteBeuve has said, he well deserves a place "dans la classe des esprits infiniment distingués"--distinguished, however, it ought to be added by intelligence rather than by intellect, and less by the power of saying much than by the power of saying a little well. In personal character he has sometimes been described as having been revoltingly heartless; and it is abundantly plain that he was singularly incapable of feeling strongly the more generous emotions--a misfortune, or a fault, which revealed itself in many ways. "Il faut avoir de l'àme pour avoir du goût." But the cynical expressions of such a man are not to be taken too literally; and the mere fact that he lived and died in the esteem of many friends suffices to show that the theoretical selfishness which he sometimes professed cannot have been consistently and at all times carried into practice.

There have been several collective editions of Fontenelle's works, the first being printed in 3 vols. at the Hague in 1728-1729. The best is that of Paris, in 8 vols. 8vo, 1790. Some of his separate works have been very frequently reprinted and also translated. The Pluralité des mondes was translated into modern Greek in 1794. Sainte-Beuve has an interesting essay on Fontenelle, with several useful references, in the Causeries du lundi, vol. iii. See also Villemain, Tableau de la littérature française au XVIII siècle; the abbé Trublet, Mémoires pour servir a l'histoire de la vie et des ouvrages de M. de Fontenelle (1759); A Laborde-Milaà, Fontenelle (1905), in the "Grands écrivains français" series; and L Maigron, Fontenelle, l'homme, l'oeuvre, l'influence (Paris, 1906). Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve (December 23, 1804 – October 13, 1869) was a literary critic and one of the major figures of French literary history. ... Abel-François Villemain - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ...

References

• This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, which is in the public domain.

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