<P> The first significant work that expressed scientific theory and knowledge expressly for the laity, in the vernacular and with the entertainment of readers in mind, was Bernard de Fontenelle's Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds (1686). The book was produced specifically for women with an interest in scientific writing and inspired a variety of similar works . These popular works were written in a discursive style, which was laid out much more clearly for the reader than the complicated articles, treatises and books published by the academies and scientists . Charles Leadbetter's Astronomy (1727) was advertised as "a Work entirely New" that would include "short and easie (sic) Rules and Astronomical Tables". The first French introduction to Newtonianism and the Principia was Eléments de la philosophie de Newton, published by Voltaire in 1738 . Émilie du Châtelet's translation of the Principia, published after her death in 1756, also helped to spread Newton's theories beyond scientific academies and the university . Writing for a growing female audience, Francesco Algarotti published Il Newtonianism per le dame, which was a tremendously popular work and was translated from Italian into English by Elizabeth Carter . A similar introduction to Newtonianism for women was produced by Henry Pemberton . His A View of Sir Isaac Newton's Philosophy was published by subscription . Extant records of subscribers show that women from a wide range of social standings purchased the book, indicating the growing number of scientifically inclined female readers among the middling class . During the Enlightenment, women also began producing popular scientific works themselves . Sarah Trimmer wrote a successful natural history textbook for children titled The Easy Introduction to the Knowledge of Nature (1782), which was published for many years after in eleven editions . </P> <P> Most work on the Enlightenment emphasizes the ideals discussed by intellectuals, rather than the actual state of education at the time . Leading educational theorists like England's John Locke and Switzerland's Jean Jacques Rousseau both emphasized the importance of shaping young minds early . By the late Enlightenment, there was a rising demand for a more universal approach to education, particularly after the American and French Revolutions . </P> <P> The predominant educational psychology from the 1750s onward, especially in northern European countries was associationism, the notion that the mind associates or dissociates ideas through repeated routines . In addition to being conducive to Enlightenment ideologies of liberty, self - determination and personal responsibility, it offered a practical theory of the mind that allowed teachers to transform longstanding forms of print and manuscript culture into effective graphic tools of learning for the lower and middle orders of society . Children were taught to memorize facts through oral and graphic methods that originated during the Renaissance . </P> <P> Many of the leading universities associated with Enlightenment progressive principles were located in northern Europe, with the most renowned being the universities of Leiden, Göttingen, Halle, Montpellier, Uppsala and Edinburgh . These universities, especially Edinburgh, produced professors whose ideas had a significant impact on Britain's North American colonies and later the American Republic . Within the natural sciences, Edinburgh's medical also led the way in chemistry, anatomy and pharmacology . In other parts of Europe, the universities and schools of France and most of Europe were bastions of traditionalism and were not hospitable to the Enlightenment . In France, the major exception was the medical university at Montpellier . </P>

Who was the enlightened thinker who published over 70 books