Pierre Gassendi (1592 – 1655) was a French philosopher, scientist and mathematician
During the early part of the 17th century, the atomistic portion of mechanical philosophy was largely developed by Gassendi, René Descartes and other atomists.
Resident of the Fondation Thiers, he completed his thesis there titled Philosophie épicurienne et littérature au xviie siècle en France : études sur Gassendi, Cyrano de Bergerac, La Fontaine, Saint-Évremond (Epicurean philosophy and literature in seventeenth-century in France: studies on Gassendi, Cyrano de Bergerac, La Fontaine, Saint-Evremond), regarding the heterodox currents of thought of classical France.