It would have been better for Christopher Wren's reputation as "that rare and early prodigy of universal science" in the words of his friend the diarist John Evelyn, if he had not subsequently proved to be an architect of genius. The towering presence of his St Paul's cathedral and magnificently varied London churches, erected in the wake of the 1666 fire, overshadow his achievements in a wide range of sciences that include mathematics, astronomy, microscopy, instrument design, natural philosophy, natural history, anatomy and physiology.
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