Who is Rene Descartes?

Rene Descartes was born on March 31, 1596, in Touraine, France. He was entered into Jesuit College at the age of eight, where he studied for about eight years. He was said to be in such delicate health that he was allowed to remain in bed until late every morning. However, he did study the classics, logic, and philosophy. Out of all of these, Descartes only found mathematics to be satisfactory in reaching the truth of the science of nature. Descartes spent several more years in Paris studying mathematics with friends, such as Mersenne. He then received a law degree in 1616. At that point in time, a man that held that type of education either joined the army or the church. Descartes chose to join the army of a nobleman in 1617. In 1638, La Geometrie was published. This work was responsible for making Descartes famous in mathematics history because it was the invention of analytical geometry. Analytical geometry is basically applying algebra to geometry. Although this had been done before by other mathematicians earlier in the history of mathematics, Descartes introduced this theory about determining a point in a plane by pairs of real numbers (ordered pairs). This is known as the Cartesian Plane. In 1649, Descartes was invited by the Queen to Sweden to work on mathematics. It is said that the Queen wanted to work on mathematics at an early hour in the mornings. Thus, Descartes had to rise early to reach the palace. Due to the cold climate, he developed pneumonia after just a few months and died on February 11, 1650.

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