Mersenne, Marin (1588-1648)

French monk, mathematician, philosopher, and music theorist. His treatises include the two-volume Harmonie universelle, published at Paris in 1636-37, with a section on instruments, ‘Questions harmoniques de la nature des sons’.

Educated at Le Mans and La Flèche, he became a Minorite friar, and was ordained in 1612. He taught philosophy at Nevers and then studied mathematics and music in Paris, where his colleagues included Descartes and the elder Pascal. He corresponded with scholars in England, Holland, and Italy, the last of which he visited three times.