Emanuel Swedenborg was a Swedish polymath; a scientist, engineer, astronomer, anatomist, Christian theologian, philosopher, and mystic. He became best known for his book on the afterlife, Heaven and Hell (1758). January 29, 1688 – March 29, 1772; died at 84. Alive at the same time as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, George Washington, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Immanuel Kant, and Isaac Newton. Wiki link