Rene Descartes Essay

If you have ever heard the phrase, “I think; therefore I am.” Then you might not know who said that famous quote. The author behind those famous words is none other than Rene Descartes. He was a 17th century philosopher, mathematician, and writer. As a mathematician, he is credited with being the creator of techniques for algebraic geometry. As a philosopher, he created views of the world that is still seen as fact today. Such as how the world is made of matter and some fundamental properties for matter. Descartes is also a co-creator of the law of refraction, which is used for rainbows. In his day, Descartes was an innovative mathematician who developed many theories and properties for math and science. He was a writer who had many works that explained his ideas. His most famous work was Meditations on First Philosophy. This book was mostly about his ideas about science, but he had books about mathematics too. Descartes’ Dream: The World According to Mathematics is a collection of essays talking about his views of algebra and geometry.

Descartes was born in La Faye, France on March 31, 1596 and died in Stockholm, Sweden on February 12, 1650. He was a very smart person from birth. He was smart enough to be able to go to a college at age eight. After that he went to a college for law at twenty two. He was able to achieve a lot in his life before he hit thirty. One of his teachers was a strong influence on him and helped him see the world as a realist and apply logic to the real world. The same teacher, named Beeckman, also persuaded him to apply mathematics to the world. Descartes’ mother died in the first year of his life. After his mother died, his father and his two other siblings to live with their grandmother. It sounds ...

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.... People wanted to hear what he had to say. People respected him as a person and his knowledge so much that Queen Christina of Sweden wanted to know what he knew. Sadly she wanted the study sessions to be held at five a.m. These study sessions eventually led to his death in 1650 of pneumonia. He probably could’ve lived a lot longer and had a bigger influence of more people if he didn’t die in 1650. As a mathematician he invented and perfected analytical geometry. As a scientist he told everyone about light reflection and refraction. He also talked about space, the moon, the stars and Earth. As a philosopher he inspired people he never even knew with his wise sayings. He gave people a new view on how everything worked. He described the mind being separate from matter simply because it could think. He was truly a great thinker and a great influence to everyone today.