René Descartes was born in 1596 in France and received degrees in law but also studied philosophy, theology, and medicine. He is considered the father of modern science for establishing a new method of thinking that rejected assumptions and accepted only ideas that could be proved through direct observation or systematic deduction. Descartes made major contributions to mathematics through developing the Cartesian coordinate system and advancing the theory of equations.

1. Rene Descartes

2. Rene’s life René Descartes was born on March 31st, 1596 in the town of La Haye in the south of France, the son of Joachim Descartes, a Councilor in Parliament and and intellectual who made certain to provide a good learning environment for his son. In 1606, at the age of 8, René attended the Jesuit college of Henri IV in La Flèche, where he studied literature, grammar, science, and mathematics. In 1614, he left La Flèche to study civil and cannon Law at Poitiers. In 1616, he received his baccalaureate and licentiate degrees in Law. Aside from his Law degrees, Descartes also spent time studying philosophy, theology, and medicine.

3. Known for René Descartes is often called the father of modern science. He established a new, clear way of thinking about philosophy and science by rejecting all ideas based on assumptions or emotional beliefs and accepting only those ideas which could be proved by or systematically deduced from direct observation. He took as his philosophical starting point the statement Cogito ergo sum -- "I think, therefore I am." Descartes made major contributions to modern mathematics, especially in developing the Cartesian coordinate system and advancing the theory of equations.

4. inventions One of his most well-known contributions to the field of mathematics was his work in analytical geometry. He was able to use algebra to prove ideas that before his time had only been demonstrated with diagrams and explanation.

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