Giambattista Vico was an Italian philosopher and historian born in 1668 in Naples. He is best known for his work, The New Science, where he proposed that history follows a cyclical pattern and that human societies evolve through distinct stages. Vico emphasized the importance of culture and language in shaping human experience. Vico's ideas laid the groundwork for modern social sciences and influenced later thinkers, including Karl Marx and Friedrich Nietzsche. He argued that understanding history requires a focus on the collective consciousness of people, rather than just individual actions. His work remains significant in the study of philosophy and history.