Johann Heinrich Lambert Biography

Johann Heinrich Lambert (German: [ˈlambɛʁt], Jean-Henri Lambert in French; 26 August 1728 – 25 September 1777) was a Swiss polymath who made important contributions to the subjects of mathematics, physics (particularly optics), philosophy, astronomy and map projections. Edward Tufte calls him and William Playfair "The two great inventors of modern graphical designs" (Visual Display of Quantitative Information, p.32).