Often referred to as the Father of Modern Philosophy, Rene Descartes was a mathematician, scientist, and philosopher. Descartes was born in France. His mother died shortly after childbirth, so he was sent to be raised by his grandmother. Descartes was Catholic and he is noted for his arguments about the existence of God. One of his most famous quotes is "I think, therefore I am," which refers to our existence as thinking, living beings. In the world of mathematics, Descartes was the creator of the Cartesian coordinate pairs. In addition, he provided many proofs for Cardano's rules of algebra, introduced the idea of using letters for unknown amounts (variables) and coefficients, and renewed the idea of exponential notation. Descartes is considered to be the father of analytic geometry, which bridges algebra and geometry. This subject provided the basis for infinitesimal calculus as we know it today.
Sources:
Hatfield, Gary. "René Descartes." Stanford University. Stanford University, 03 Dec. 2008. Web. 16 June 2014. <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes/#EarLifEdu>
"Rene Descartes." Internet Encylopedia of Philosphy. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 June 2014. <http://www.iep.utm.edu/descarte/#H1>.
Golden, John. "Descartes." Grand Valley State University.
Hatfield, Gary. "René Descartes." Stanford University. Stanford University, 03 Dec. 2008. Web. 16 June 2014. <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes/#EarLifEdu>
"Rene Descartes." Internet Encylopedia of Philosphy. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 June 2014. <http://www.iep.utm.edu/descarte/#H1>.
Golden, John. "Descartes." Grand Valley State University.