Rene Descartes
The French mathematician Rene Descartes was born on 31 March 1596 in La
Haye (now Descartes), Touraine, France. At the age of eight, he entered the Jesuit
College at La Fleche where he developed a lasting interest in mathematics. He studied
various subjects until he left in 1612. Ironically, attending school had made Descartes
understand how little he knew. He discovered that the only subject satisfactory in his
eyes was the study of mathematics. This idea became the foundation for his way of
thinking. He believed that all science could be unified by the application of reason in
mathematics.
After studying law at the University of Poiters and receiving his degree in 1616, he
entered a military school where he continued his studies in mathematics. Then, he
spent a short period of time traveling before joining the army in 1620. Following his
time with the military, he settled in Holland and began his writings.
Cartesian Perspective
Coordinate surfaces for a Cartesian coordinate sys...
Cartesian Coordinate SystemHis first works took 4 years to complete. It was titled Le Monde, ou Traite de la
Lumiere. This work attempted to give a physical theory of the universe. It was a
dangerous subject on which to publish in this day and age since this kind of theory went
against church belief. When news reached Descartes that Galileo was condemned to
house arrest due to his own publications, he decided not to publish his works for fear of
punishment.
He then worked for years on his Discours de la methode pour bien conduire sa
raison et chercher la veritie dans les sciences or "Discourse of the Method of Properly
Guiding the Reason in the Search of Truth in the Sciences." This work contained three
appendices, one of which was La Geometrie. In La Geometrie he describes his method
that should be applied when...