Rene Descartes
Over the course of approximately sixty years, Rene Descartes set a precedent for mathematic excellence in the fields of algebra, geometry, and calculus. His findings lay the foundation for modern math and became a "turning point between medieval and modern mathematics.2" The product of these findings was a mixture of mathematics and science that would later be created by Newton and Leibniz. This new form of mathematics would become known as Calculus.Rene Descartes was born near Tours, France on March 31, 1596. He was born to a family of moderate wealth and was the second in a family of two sons and one daughter. At the age of eight, a young Rene Descartes found himself attending the Jesuit school of La Fleche in Anjou. There, he realized how little he actually knew, except for one subject-mathematics. It was also there that Descartes developed the habit of staying in bed late due to his delicate health. Upon graduating from school, he began studying law at the University of Poitiers from which he later graduated. But, Descartes never practiced law. In 1618, he enlisted in the service of Prince Maurice of Nassau with the intentions of initiating a military career. During this time, though, Descartes found himse
The ideas expressed in the latter emphasized algebra's importance in geometry. This book was the first to look at linking the two subjects together, offering the creation of coordinate geometry. This basic mathematical idea, introduces a pair of axes in a plane from which you can label any point with a pair of numbers for which there are an x and a y where all solutions lie on the same line. A problem existing with such can be solved algebraically thus, tying the two subjects together. Quotations by Rene Descartes. Feb. 2000. School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St. Andrews, Scotland. 15 Jan. 2001. http://www-groups.dcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~history/Quotations/Descartes.html In 1649, Queen Christina of Sweden persuaded Descartes to visit Stockholm. The Queen wanted to draw tangents with him at the early hour of 5 a.m.daily. It only took a few months of walking back in forth to the palace in the cold climate to eventually catch pneumonia and die. But, Descartes' story does not yet end. Seventeen years after his death, Descartes' bones, except for his right hand, were returned to France, the land of his birth. The French Treasurer-General, however, secured his right hand, as a souvenir. The third book contained an analysis of the then curre
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