Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723), English architect and astronomer. Wren is most famous as the architect of London churches, especially St Paul's Cathedral, but he was also heavily involved in the scientific community of the day. He made observations of the Moon and Saturn while he was Professor of Astronomy at Gresham College, London (1657-1660). Then he was Savilian Professor of Astronomy at the University of Oxford (1661-1673), working on mechanics, meteorology and optics. From 1671, with Robert Hooke, he helped design the Monument to the Great Fire of London, which doubles as a scientific instrument. He was a founder of the Royal Society (1660), and its President from 1680-1682. He was knighted in 1673.