Marin Mersenne (8th September 1588–1st September 1648)

French polymath. Over his long career he wrote a number of philosophical and scientific works. He had a particular interest in musical theory and many of his works are dedicated to music and music-making. He is important to flageolet players as one of the first musicologists to comment on the instrument, in his Harmonie Universelle, where he quotes a short vaudeville for a consort of four different sized flageolets.