Gottfried Leibniz

Leibniz was one of the great figures of the Enlightenment and the scientific revolution. A contemporary of Newton, Descartes and Spinoza, he was a great figure of the 17th and 18th centuries. Here, at bottom, is a photo of his house in Hannover which miraculously escaped destruction in the bombing of the city in the Second World War. At top was a street scene in Luenburg I snapped while walking to the Haupbahnhof to take the train to Hannover.