Thomas Hobbes

(1588 - 1679)

Philosopher, scientist, and historian Thomas Hobbes graduated from Oxford University in 1608 and published the first Greek-to-English translation of Thucydides in 1629. He first gained recognition for his political thought in 1640 when Royalists used arguments from his treatise The Elements of Law during a debate in Parliament. During the English civil war, he sought safety in Paris, where he would remain for more than a decade, experimenting with optics, instructing Charles II in mathematics, and writing Leviathan. It was published in England because, he said, “The truth is, I have a mind to go home.” He did so in 1652.