Silmarie's Algebra Newsletter

Silmarie Aguilar
Section:3-4

Rene Descartes
March 31st, 1596 – February 11th, 1650
‘’I think, therefore I am’’


Information about his life:

Rene Descartes was born on March 31st, 1596, in the town of La Haye in the south of France. He was son of Joachim Descartes, which was a Councilor in Parliament; and in his spare time he provided a good learning environment for his son; Rene. When Rene was 8 years old he attended the Jesuit college of Henri 4th in La Fleche; he studied literature, grammar, science, and mathematics. In 1614, Rene left the school to study civil and cannon Law at Poitiers; two years later he received his baccalaureate and licentiate degrees in Law. In his spare time he studied philosophy, theology, and medicine. Rene spent a short time in the military, than went on to enjoy his quiet and happy life. He still continued writing essays, and exploring the world of science and mathematics. Rene was always a frail person, he would spent most of he’s mornings in the bed; where he did most of his thinking. A couple years later Rene relocated to Sweden to tutor Queen Christina in philosophy. Queen Christina wanted her classes at 5:00 o’ clock in the morning. This new schedule was terrible for Rene’s fragile body. Not to long after, he contracted pneumonia; he later died on February 11, 1650 at age 54.

Rene and his contribution to ALGEBRA?

Rene’s contribution to algebra was; in 1637, Rene published ‘’geometry’’. He’s combination to algebra and geometry gave birth to analytical geometry, better known as Cartesian geometry. That is the connection between Rene Descartes and ALGEBRA.

http://www.renedescartes.com/