No man of his day had a more comprehensive view of all the sciences, though he made no original contributions to any.

His curiosity was universal, and as Secretary of the Academy he was obliged, according to his own high standard of his duty, to keep abreast of all that was being done in every branch of knowledge.

That was possible then; it would be impossible now.
In the famous series of obituary discourses which he delivered on savants who were members of the Academy, Fontenelle probably thought that he was contributing to the realisation of this ideal of "solidarity," for they amounted to a chronicle of scientific progress in every department.

They are free from technicalities and extraordinarily lucid, and they appealed not only to men of science, but to those of the educated public who possessed some scientific curiosity.

This brings us to another important role of Fontenelle--the role of interpreter of the world of science to the world outside.