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Nov 28, 2011 · In La Géométrie, Descartes details a groundbreaking program for geometrical problem-solving—what he refers to as a “geometrical calculus” (calcul géométrique)—that rests on a distinctive approach to the relationship between algebra and geometry.
Dec 3, 2008 · René Descartes (1596–1650) was a creative mathematician of the first order, an important scientific thinker, and an original metaphysician. During the course of his life, he was a mathematician first, a natural scientist or “natural philosopher” second, and a metaphysician third.
- Lucas Reilly
- NOBODY CALLED HIM RENÉ. Descartes went by a nickname and often introduced himself as “Poitevin” and signed letters as “du Perron.” Sometimes, he went so far to call himself the “Lord of Perron.”
- SCHOOL MADE HIM FEEL DUMBER. From the age of 11 to 18, Descartes attended one of the best schools in Europe, the Jesuit College of Henry IV in La Flèche, France.
- HIS DAD WANTED HIM TO BE A LAWYER. Descartes’s family was chock-full of lawyers, and the budding intellectual was expected to join them. He studied law at the University of Poitiers and even came home with a law degree in 1616.
- HE CHANGED CAREER PATHS THANKS TO A SERIES OF DREAMS. In 1618, the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Ferdinand II, attempted to impose Catholicism on anybody living within his domain.
Descartes also befriended the mathematician Claude Mydorge (1585–1647) and Father Marin Mersenne (1588–1648), a person of universal learning who corresponded with hundreds of scholars, writers, mathematicians, and scientists and who became Descartes’s main contact with the larger intellectual world.
- Richard A. Watson
- René Descartes was a French mathematician and philosopher during the 17th century. He is often considered a precursor to the rationalist school of...
- René Descartes is most commonly known for his philosophical statement, “I think, therefore I am” (originally in French, but best known by its Latin...
- René Descartes was born in 1596 in La Hay en Touraine, France, to Joachim and Jeanne Descartes. Jeanne died shortly after Descartes turned one. Des...
- René Descartes died on February 11, 1650, in Stockholm, Sweden, succumbing to pneumonia at the age of 53. He was in Stockholm at the time to help t...
Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like Explain Descartes' method of doubt. What is Descartes' purpose in exercising this method?, Why can't Descartes be certain about beliefs he acquires through the evidence of the senses?, Why can't Descartes be certain about mathematical beliefs like the belief that 2+2=4? and more.
Jun 3, 2020 · Descartes’ method is one of the most important pillars of his philosophy and science. This entry introduces readers to Descartes’ method and its applications in optics, meteorology, geometry, and metaphysics. 1. The Origins and Definition of Descartes’ Method. 2. The Method in the Rules. 3. The Method in the Rules: An Example. 4.
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There is in Descartes's metaphysics a fundamental idea which was already adumbrated in the Regulae ad Directionem Ingenii and in the Discours de la M?thode (henceforth simply Regulae and Discours), but which only became fully developed in his later writings.
