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Essay on Rene Descartes
Rene Descartes was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, from time to time called the father of modern philosophy. Descartes alleged science and mathematics could elucidate and foresee events in the physical world. Descartes urbanized the Cartesian synchronize system for graphing equations and geometric shapes. Contemporary maps use a grid system that can be traced back to Cartesian graphing techniques. Born in La Haye, Touraine (a region and former province of France), Descartes was the son of a minor nobleman and belonged to a family that had produced a number of learned men. At the age of eight he was enrolled in the Jesuit school of La Flèche in Anjou, where he remained for eight years. Besides the usual classical studies, Descartes received instruction in mathematics and in Scholastic idea, which attempted to use human reason to understand Christian doctrine. Roman Catholicism exerted a strong influence on Descartes throughout his life. Upon graduation from school, he studied law at the University of Poitiers, graduating in 1616. He never practiced law, however; in 1618 he entered the service of Prince Maurice of Nassau, leader of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, with the intention of following a military profession. (McMullen, Emerson Thomas (2002)
In ensuing years Descartes served in other armies, however his attention had by now been concerned to the troubles of mathematics and philosophy to which he was to devote the rest of his life. He made a pilgrimage to Italy from 1623 to 1624 and spent the years from 1624 to 1628 in France. While in France, Descartes devoted himself to the study of philosophy and in addition experimented in the science of optics. In 1628, having sold his properties in France, he moved to the Netherlands, where he spent most of the rest of his life.....
