1601-1652

French mathematician and astronomer. Beaune studied law at Paris, but his status and wealth enabled him to build an extensive library and observatory to indulge his scientific interests. He became friendly with many leading scientific figures, and is best remembered for writing an important Latin summary of René Descartes' geometric ideas. He also published several papers on algebra and left a number of unpublished writings in mathematics, mechanics, and optics that have unfortunately been lost.