ABSTRACT
Held a unique position in the development of the natural and physical sciences in the early seventeenth century. He was Consilleur du Roi in the Parlement of Aix and was a noted humanist and naturalist, but his chief importance was as a patron of the arts and sciences. All of the notable intellectuals of the time either visited him at Aix or corresponded with him. Peiresc facilitated scientific activity by creating networks of intellectual discourse, funneling books and manuscripts to appropriate readers, organizing experiments in optics and observational astronomy, and obtaining financial aid and advancement for his clients.
