A great Writer: Denis Diderot

(1713-1784)

Statue of Denis Diderot at the city of Langres (F)

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Some time ago we have proposed at the SBNC (Small bodies naming committee, at Massachusetts) to attribute one of our discoveries of minor planets to the famous French writer and philosopher Denis Diderot. This proposal went to the SBNC with the following citation:

(5351) Diderot

1989 SG5. Discovered 1989 September 26 by Eric W. Elst at la Silla (Chile).

Named in memory of Denis Diderot (1713-1784),French author of dramas, novels and philosophical essays. Together with d'Alembert, he will remembered for his Encyclopedia, a huge task that took almost 20 years of his life and resulted in more than one thousand articles on philosophy, literature, religion, politics, economics and applied sciences (Minor Planet Circulars 23540)

The citation has been written by Kristina Leterme, at our request