Gassendi

American  

[ga-sahn-dee] / ga sɑ̃ˈdi /

noun

1. Pierre 1592–1655, French philosopher and scientist.

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Gassendi British  

/ ɡasɛndɪ /

noun

1. Pierre. 1592–1655, French physicist and philosopher, who promoted an atomic theory of matter

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Example Sentences

As a young man, the real Cyrano was taught by the idiosyncratic polymath Pierre Gassendi and mixed in free-thinking "libertine" circles.

From Salon

Although he carried out many astronomical observations and the famous test of inertia using a galley, Gassendi’s most important contribution to science was the revival of atomism, which he presented most clearly in a book published in 1649.

From Literature

The reason that Gassendi and a good many of his contemporaries were willing to accept the idea of a vacuum in the 1640s was that there was experimental evidence that ‘the void’ existed.

From Literature

But as if to prove the old adage that nobody is perfect, among other things Gassendi opposed Harvey’s ideas about the circulation of the blood.

From Literature

Gassendi, who was born at Champtercier, in Provence, on 22 January 1592, became a Doctor of Theology in Avignon in 1616, took holy orders the following year and was teaching at the University of Aix when, in 1624, he published a book criticizing the Aristotelian world view.

From Literature