René Descartes

Born: 31 March 1596 in La Haye, Touraine, France (modern day Descartes, France)
Died: 11 February 1650 in Stockholm, Sweden


    Entering in to the Jesuit college of Anjou at the age of eight, Descartes studied here until 1612 and realized how little he knew--mathematics was the only subject with which he felt comfortable and certain.  At the age of 22, he began studying math and mechanics and searched for a unified science of nature; and from 1620 to 1628 traveled around Europe (making acquaintances with Mersenne in 1623 while in Paris and others in the scientific fields on his travels).  Finally settling down in Holland, he worked on a physics treatise, which was not published until after his death (Le Monde) and another published work on science, which included his theories and findings on optics, meteorology, and applications in algebra and geometry.  He was a philosopher who also contributed to algebra and geometry in his work La géométrié, namely inventing the Cartesian coordinate system.

Inventor of analytic and coordinate geometry. Cartesian coordinates. Philosopher. Dreamer. Soldier. Scientist. Skeptic. "Cogito ergo sum."

You can find more about Descartes here.

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