Leibniz and geography: geologist, paleontologist, biologist, historian, political theorist and geopolitician

This article discusses the way that the German philosopher and mathematician Gottfried Leibniz (1646&ndash;1716) made a number of significant contributions to geography. In outlining his contributions as a geologist, palaeontologist, biologist, historian, political theorist and geopolitician, it challenges the straightforward way he is read in geography. Particular focus is on his <i>Protogaea</i>, the </i>Annales Imperii</i> and the <i>Consilium Aegyptiacum</i>, respectively a pre-history of the earth, a chronology of German nobility in the Middle Ages, and a military-strategic proposal to King Louis XIV. Making use of contemporary debates about ways of reading Leibniz, and drawing on a wide range of his writings, the article indicates just how much remains to be discovered about his work