Henry Oldenburg (also
Henry Oldenbourg) (c. 1619 as
Heinrich Oldenburg – 5 September 1677) was a German theologian known as a
diplomat, a
natural philosopher and as the creator of scientific
peer review. He was one of the foremost s of Europe of the seventeenth century, with a network of correspondents to rival those of
Fabri de Peiresc,
Marin Mersenne and
Ismaël Boulliau. At the foundation of the
Royal Society he took on the task of foreign correspondence, as the first Secretary.