Why does a child cry in his sleep for 8 years? Why does a baby cry in his sleep without waking up? Why does a newborn cry?

Name: Rene Descartes

Age: 53 years old

Activity: philosopher, mathematician, mechanic, physicist, physiologist

Family status: wasn't married

Rene Descartes: biography

Rene Descartes was a mathematician, philosopher, physiologist, mechanic and physicist, whose ideas and discoveries played a major role in the development of several scientific fields. He developed algebraic symbolism, which we use to this day, became the “father” of analytical geometry, laid the foundation for the development of reflexology, created mechanism in physics - and this is not all the achievements.

Childhood and youth

Rene Descartes was born in the city of Lae on March 31, 1596. Subsequently, the name of this city was renamed “Descartes”. Rene's parents were representatives of an old noble family, which in the 16th century could barely make ends meet. Rene became the third son in the family. When Descartes was 1 year old, his mother died suddenly. The father of the future famous scientist worked as a judge in another city, so he rarely visited his children. Therefore, after the death of his mother, his grandmother undertook to raise Descartes the Younger.

WITH early years Rene demonstrated an amazing curiosity and desire to acquire knowledge. At the same time, he was in fragile health. The boy received his first education at the Jesuit College of La Flèche. This educational institution was different strict regime, but Descartes, taking into account his state of health, was given relief in this regime. For example, he could wake up later than other students.

Like most colleges of the time, education at La Flèche was religious in nature. And although study meant a lot to the young Descartes, this orientation of the educational system gave rise to and strengthened in him a critical attitude towards the philosophical authorities of that time.

After completing his college studies, Rene went to Poitiers, where he received a bachelor's degree in law. Then he spent some time in the French capital, and in 1617 he entered the military service. The mathematician participated in military operations in Holland, which was at that time engulfed in revolution, as well as in the short battle for Prague. In Holland, Descartes became friends with the physicist Isaac Beckman.

Then Rene lived in Paris for some time, and when followers of the Jesuits learned about his bold ideas, he went back to Holland, where he lived for 20 years. Throughout his life he was persecuted and attacked by the church for progressive ideas that were ahead of the level of development of science in the 16th-17th centuries.

Philosophy

The philosophical teaching of Rene Descartes was characterized by dualism: he believed that there was both an ideal substance and a material one. Both of these principles were recognized by him as independent. Rene Descartes' concept also implies the recognition of the presence in our world of two types of entities: thinking and extended. The scientist believed that the source of both entities was God. He forms them according to the same laws, creates matter in parallel with its rest and movement, and also preserves substances.

Rene Descartes saw a unique universal method of knowledge in rationalism. At the same time, the scientist considered knowledge itself a prerequisite for man to dominate the forces of nature. The possibilities of reason, according to Descartes, are constrained by the imperfection of man, his differences from the perfect God. Rene's reasoning about knowledge in this vein, in fact, laid the basis for rationalism.

The starting point of most of Rene Descartes' searches in the field of philosophy was doubt about the veracity and infallibility of generally accepted knowledge. Descartes' quote, “I think, therefore I am,” stems from this reasoning. The philosopher stated that every person can doubt the existence of his body and even the external world as a whole. But at the same time, this doubt will definitely remain existing.

Mathematics and physics

The main philosophical and mathematical result of Rene Descartes’ work was the writing of the book “Discourse on Method.” The book contained several appendices. One application contained the basics of analytical geometry. Another application included rules for the study of optical instruments and phenomena, Descartes’ achievements in this field (for the first time he correctly compiled the law of refraction of light), and so on.

The scientist introduced the exponent that is now used, the line over the expression, which is taken as the root, and began to denote unknowns with the symbols “x, y, z”, and constant quantities with the symbols “a, b, c”. The mathematician also developed the canonical form of equations, which is still used today in solving (when there is a zero on the right side of the equation).

Another achievement of Rene Descartes, important for improving mathematics and physics, was the development of a coordinate system. The scientist introduced it in order to make possible description geometric properties of bodies and curves in the language of classical algebra. In other words, it was René Descartes who made possible analysis equations of a curve in the Cartesian coordinate system, a special case of which is the well-known rectangular system. This innovation also made it possible to interpret negative numbers in much more detail and accuracy.

The mathematician studied algebraic and “mechanical” functions, while arguing that there is no single method for studying transcendental functions. Descartes primarily studied real numbers, but began to take into account complex numbers as well. He introduced the concept of imaginary negative roots, associated with the concept of complex numbers.

Research in the fields of mathematics, geometry, optics and physics subsequently became the basis for the scientific works of Euler and a number of other scientists. All mathematicians of the second half of the 17th century based their theories on the works of Rene Descartes.

Descartes' method

The scientist believed that experience is necessary only to help the mind in situations where it is impossible to arrive at the truth solely by reflection. Throughout his scientific life, Descartes carried four main components of the method of searching for truth:

It is necessary to start from the most obvious, beyond doubt. Because the opposite of which cannot even be allowed.
Any problem should be divided into as many small parts as necessary to achieve a productive solution.
You should start with the simple, from which you need to gradually move to more and more complex ones.
At each stage, it is necessary to double-check the correctness of the drawn conclusions in order to be confident in the objectivity of the knowledge obtained based on the results of the study.

Researchers note that these rules, which Descartes invariably used when creating his works, clearly demonstrate the desire of European XVII culture century to the abandonment of outdated rules and to the construction of a new, progressive and objective science.

Personal life

ABOUT personal life Little is known about René Descartes. Contemporaries claimed that in society he was arrogant and silent, preferring solitude to companies, but among close people he could show amazing activity in communication. Rene, apparently, did not have a wife.

IN mature age he was in love with a maid who bore him a daughter, Francine. The girl was born illegitimately, but Descartes fell in love with her very much. At the age of five, Francine died due to scarlet fever. The scientist called her death the greatest tragedy of his life.

Death

For many years, René Descartes was persecuted for his fresh approach to science. In 1649 he moved to Stockholm, where he was invited by the Swedish Queen Christina. Descartes corresponded with the latter for many years. Christina was amazed at the genius of the scientist and promised him a quiet life in the capital of her state. Alas, Rene did not enjoy life in Stockholm for long: soon after moving, he caught a cold. The cold quickly developed into pneumonia. The scientist passed away on February 11, 1650.

There is an opinion that Descartes died not due to pneumonia, but due to poisoning. The role of poisoners could have been agents of the Catholic Church, which did not like the presence of a free-thinking scientist next to the Queen of Sweden. The last one Catholic Church intended to convert, which happened four years after Rene’s death. To date, this version has not received objective confirmation, but many researchers are inclined to believe it.

Quotes

The main effect of all human passions is that they motivate and tune the human soul to desire what these passions prepare his body for.
In most disputes one can notice one mistake: while the truth lies between the two defended views, each of the latter moves further away from it the more heatedly he argues.
An ordinary mortal sympathizes with those who complain more, because he thinks that the grief of those who complain is very great, while main reason the compassion of great men is the weakness of those from whom they hear complaints.
Philosophy, insofar as it extends to everything accessible to human knowledge, alone distinguishes us from savages and barbarians, and each people is the more civilized and educated the better they philosophize; therefore, there is no greater benefit for the state than to have true philosophers.
The curious seeks out rarities only to be surprised by them; inquisitive in order to recognize them and stop being surprised.

Bibliography

Philosophy of spirit and matter by Rene Descartes
Rules for Guiding the Mind
Finding Truth Through Natural Light
Peace, or Treatise on Light
A Discourse on a Method for Directing Your Mind Correctly and Finding Truth in the Sciences
First principles of philosophy
Description human body. about animal education
Comments on a certain program published in Belgium at the end of 1647 under the title: An explanation of the human mind, or rational soul, where it is explained what it is and what it can be
Passions of the soul
Reflections on first philosophy, in which the existence of God and the difference between the human soul and body are proved
Objections of some learned men to the above “Reflections” with the author’s answers
To the deeply revered Father Dina, Provincial Superior of France
Conversation with Burman
Geometry
Cosmogony: Two Treatises
First principles of philosophy
Reflections on First Philosophy

Descartes came from an old but impoverished noble family and was the youngest (third) son in the family. He was born on March 31, 1596 in La Haye en Touraine, now Descartes, Indre-et-Loire, France. His mother died when he was 1 year old. Descartes' father was a judge in the city of Rennes and rarely appeared in Lae; The boy was raised by his maternal grandmother. As a child, Rene was distinguished by fragile health and incredible curiosity.

Descartes received his primary education at the Jesuit college La Flèche, where he met Marin Mersenne (then a student, later a priest), the future coordinator scientific life France. Religious education, oddly enough, only strengthened the young Descartes’ skeptical distrust of the philosophical authorities of that time. Later he formulated his method of cognition: deductive (mathematical) reasoning over the results of reproducible experiments.

In 1612, Descartes graduated from college, studied law for some time in Poitiers, then went to Paris, where he alternated for several years distracted life with mathematical research. Then he entered military service (1617) - first in revolutionary Holland (in those years - an ally of France), then in Germany, where he participated in the short battle for Prague (Thirty Years' War). Descartes spent several years in Paris, indulging in scientific work. Among other things, he discovered the principle of virtual speeds, which at that time no one was yet ready to appreciate.

Then - several more years of participation in the war (the siege of La Rochelle). Upon returning to France, it turned out that Descartes' freethinking became known to the Jesuits, and they accused him of heresy. Therefore, Descartes moved to Holland (1628), where he spent 20 years.

He maintains extensive correspondence with the best scientists in Europe (through the faithful Mersenne), studies a variety of sciences - from medicine to meteorology. Finally, in 1634, he completed his first, programmatic book entitled “The World” (Le Monde) in two parts: “Treatise on Light” and “Treatise on Man”. But the moment for publication was unfortunate - a year earlier, the Inquisition almost tortured Galileo. Therefore, Descartes decided not to publish this work during his lifetime. He wrote to Mersenne about Galileo's condemnation:

Soon, however, one after another, other books of Descartes appear:

“Discourse on Method...” (1637)
"Reflections on First Philosophy..." (1641)
"Principles of Philosophy" (1644)

Descartes’ main theses are formulated in the “Principles of Philosophy”:

God created the world and the laws of nature, and then the Universe acts as an independent mechanism.
There is nothing in the world except moving matter various types. Matter consists of elementary particles, the local interaction of which produces everything natural phenomena.
Mathematics is a powerful and universal method of understanding nature, a model for other sciences.

Cardinal Richelieu reacted favorably to the works of Descartes and allowed their publication in France, but the Protestant theologians of Holland placed a curse on them (1642); Without the support of the Prince of Orange, the scientist would have had a hard time.

In 1635, Descartes had an illegitimate daughter, Francine (from a servant). She lived only 5 years (she died of scarlet fever), and he regarded the death of his daughter as the greatest grief in his life.

In 1649, Descartes, exhausted by many years of persecution for freethinking, succumbed to the persuasion of the Swedish Queen Christina (with whom he actively corresponded for many years) and moved to Stockholm. Almost immediately after moving, he caught a serious cold and soon died. The suspected cause of death was pneumonia. There is also a hypothesis about its poisoning, since the symptoms of Descartes' disease are similar to those of acute poisoning arsenic. This hypothesis was put forward by Ikey Pease, a German scientist, and then supported by Theodor Ebert. The reason for the poisoning, according to this version, was the fear of Catholic agents that Descartes' freethinking might interfere with their efforts to convert Queen Christina to Catholicism (this conversion actually occurred in 1654).

Towards the end of Descartes' life, the church's attitude towards his teachings became sharply hostile. Soon after his death, the main works of Descartes were included in the notorious "Index", and Louis XIV, by a special decree, banned the teaching of Descartes' philosophy ("Cartesianism") in all educational institutions France.

17 years after the scientist’s death, his remains were transported to Paris (he was later buried in the Pantheon). In 1819, the long-suffering ashes of Descartes were again disturbed, and now rest in the church of Saint-Germain des Pres.

A crater on the Moon is named after the scientist.

Scientific activity

Mathematics

In 1637, Descartes' main mathematical work, “Discourse on Method” (full title: “Discourse on the Method for Directing Your Mind and Finding Truth in the Sciences”) was published.

This book presented analytical geometry, and in its appendices numerous results in algebra, geometry, optics (including the correct formulation of the law of refraction of light) and much more.

Of particular note is the mathematical symbolism of Vieta, which he reworked, which from that moment was close to modern. He denoted the coefficients as a, b, c..., and the unknowns as x, y, z. Natural indicator degree accepted modern look(fractional and negative ones were established thanks to Newton). A line appears over the radical expression. The equations are reduced to canonical form (zero on the right side).

Descartes called symbolic algebra “Universal Mathematics,” and wrote that it should explain “everything pertaining to order and measure.”

The creation of analytical geometry made it possible to translate the study of the geometric properties of curves and bodies into algebraic language, that is, to analyze the equation of a curve in a certain coordinate system. This translation had the disadvantage that now it was necessary to carefully determine the true geometric properties that do not depend on the coordinate system (invariants). However, the advantages of the new method were exceptionally great, and Descartes demonstrated them in the same book, discovering many provisions unknown to ancient and contemporary mathematicians.

Methods for solving were given in the Geometry application algebraic equations(including geometric and mechanical), classification of algebraic curves. New way defining a curve - using an equation - was a decisive step towards the concept of function. Descartes formulates a precise "rule of signs" for determining number positive roots equation, although it does not prove it.

Descartes explored algebraic functions(polynomials), as well as a number of “mechanical” ones (spirals, cycloids). For transcendental functions, according to Descartes, general method research does not exist.

Complex numbers were not yet considered by Descartes on equal terms with positive numbers, but he formulated (although did not prove) the fundamental theorem of algebra: total number real and complex roots of an equation is equal to its degree. Descartes traditionally called negative roots false, but combined them with positive ones under the term real numbers, separating them from imaginary (complex) ones. This term entered mathematics. However, Descartes showed some inconsistency: the coefficients a, b, c... were considered positive for him, and the case of an unknown sign was specially marked with an ellipsis on the left.

All non-negative real numbers, not excluding irrational ones, are considered by Descartes as equal; they are defined as the ratio of the length of a certain segment to a length standard. Later, Newton and Euler adopted a similar definition of number. Descartes does not yet separate algebra from geometry, although he changes their priorities; he understands solving an equation as constructing a segment with a length equal to the root of the equation. This anachronism was soon discarded by his students, primarily English ones, for whom geometric constructions are purely auxiliary technique.

The book “Method” immediately made Descartes a recognized authority in mathematics and optics. It is noteworthy that it was published in French and not in Latin. The “Geometry” appendix was, however, immediately translated into Latin and repeatedly published separately, growing from commentaries and becoming a reference book for European scientists. The works of mathematicians of the second half of the 17th century reflect the strong influence of Descartes.

Mechanics and physics

Physical research Descartes relate mainly to mechanics, optics and general structure Universe. Descartes' physics, in contrast to his metaphysics, was materialistic: the Universe is entirely filled with moving matter and is self-sufficient in its manifestations. Descartes did not recognize indivisible atoms and emptiness and in his works sharply criticized atomists, both ancient and contemporary. In addition to ordinary matter, Descartes identified an extensive class of invisible subtle matters, with the help of which he tried to explain the effects of heat, gravity, electricity and magnetism.

Descartes considered the main types of motion to be motion by inertia, which he formulated (1644) in the same way as Newton later, and material vortices arising from the interaction of one matter with another. He considered the interaction purely mechanically, as an impact. Descartes introduced the concept of momentum, formulated (in a loose formulation) the law of conservation of motion (quantity of motion), but interpreted it inaccurately, not taking into account that momentum is a vector quantity (1664).

In 1637, Dioptrics was published, which contained the laws of the propagation of light, reflection and refraction, the idea of ether as a carrier of light, and an explanation of the rainbow. Descartes was the first to mathematically deduce the law of refraction of light (independently of W. Snell) at the boundary of two different environments. The precise formulation of this law made it possible to improve optical instruments, which then began to play a huge role in astronomy and navigation (and soon in microscopy).

Investigated the laws of impact. He suggested that Atmosphere pressure decreases with increasing altitude. Descartes quite correctly considered heat and heat transfer as arising from the movement of small particles of matter.

Other scientific achievements

Descartes's largest discovery, which became fundamental for subsequent psychology, can be considered the concept of reflex and the principle of reflex activity. The reflex scheme was as follows. Descartes presented a model of the organism as a working mechanism. With this understanding living body no longer requires the intervention of the soul; the functions of the “body machine,” which include “perception, imprinting ideas, retaining ideas in memory, internal aspirations... are performed in this machine like the movements of a clock.”
Along with the teachings about the mechanisms of the body, the problem of affects (passions) as bodily states that are regulators of mental life was developed. The term "passion" or "affect" modern psychology indicates certain emotional states.

Philosophy

Descartes' philosophy was dualistic. He recognized the existence of two objective entities in the world: extended (res extensa) and thinking (res cogitans), while the problem of their interaction was resolved by introducing a common source (God), which, acting as a creator, forms both substances according to the same laws.

Descartes' main contribution to philosophy was the classical construction of the philosophy of rationalism as universal method knowledge. Reason, according to Descartes, critically evaluates experimental data and derives from them true laws hidden in nature, formulated in mathematical language. When used skillfully, there are no limits to the power of the mind.

Another important feature of Descartes' approach was mechanism. Matter (including subtle matter) consists of elementary particles, the local mechanical interaction of which produces all natural phenomena. For philosophical worldview Descartes is also characterized by skepticism, criticism of the previous scholastic philosophical tradition.

The self-certainty of consciousness, cogito (Cartesian “I think, therefore I exist” - Latin Cogito, ergo sum), as well as the theory of innate ideas, is the starting point of Cartesian epistemology. Cartesian physics, in contrast to Newtonian physics, considered everything extended to be corporeal, denying empty space, and described motion using the concept of “vortex”; the physics of Cartesianism subsequently found its expression in the theory of short-range action.

In the development of Cartesianism, two opposing trends emerged:

to materialistic monism (H. De Roy, B. Spinoza)
and to idealistic occasionalism (A. Geulinx, N. Malebranche).

Descartes' worldview laid the foundation for the so-called. Cartesianism, represented by

Dutch (Baruch and Spinoza),
German (Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz)
and French (Nicole Malebranche)

Radical Doubt Method

The starting point of Descartes' reasoning is the search for the undoubted foundations of all knowledge. Skepticism has always been a prominent feature of the French mind, as well as the desire for mathematical accuracy of knowledge. During the Renaissance, the French Montaigne and Charron talentedly transplanted the skepticism of the Greek school of Pyrrhon into French literature. Mathematical sciences flourished in France in the 17th century.

Skepticism and the search for ideal mathematical precision are two different expressions of the same trait of the human mind: the intense desire to achieve an absolutely certain and logically unshakable truth. They are completely opposite:

on the one hand - empiricism, content with approximate and relative truth,
on the other, mysticism, which finds special delight in direct supersensible, transrational knowledge.

Descartes had nothing in common with either empiricism or mysticism. If he was looking for the highest absolute principle of knowledge in the immediate self-consciousness of man, then it was not about some mystical revelation of the unknown basis of things, but about a clear, analytical revelation of the most general, logically irrefutable truth. Its discovery was for Descartes a condition for overcoming the doubts with which his mind struggled.

He finally formulates these doubts and the way out of them in the “Principles of Philosophy” as follows:

Thus, Descartes found the first solid point for constructing his worldview - the fundamental truth of our mind that does not require any further proof. From this truth it is already possible, according to Descartes, to go further to the construction of new truths.

First of all, analyzing the meaning of the statement “cogito, ergo sum”, Descartes establishes a criterion of reliability. Why is a certain state of mind absolutely certain? We have no other criterion other than the psychological, internal criterion of clarity and separateness of representation. It is not experience that convinces us of our existence as a thinking being, but only the distinct decomposition of the immediate fact of self-consciousness into two equally inevitable and clear representations or ideas - thinking and being. Descartes arms himself against syllogism as a source of new knowledge almost as energetically as Bacon had earlier, considering it not a tool for the discovery of new facts, but only a means of presenting truths already known, obtained in other ways. The combination of the mentioned ideas in consciousness is, therefore, not a conclusion, but a synthesis; it is an act of creativity, just like discerning the value of the sum of the angles of a triangle in geometry. Descartes was the first to hint at the significance of the question that later played the main role in Kant, namely the question of the meaning of a priori synthetic judgments.

Proof of God's Existence

Having found the criterion of certainty in distinct, clear ideas (ideae clarae et distinctae), Descartes then undertakes to prove the existence of God and to clarify the basic nature of the material world. Since the belief in the existence of the physical world is based on the data of our sensory perception, and we do not yet know about the latter, whether it is not unconditionally deceiving us, we must first find a guarantee of at least the relative reliability of sensory perceptions. Such a guarantee can only be a perfect being who created us, with our feelings, the idea of which would be incompatible with the idea of deception. We have a clear and distinct idea of such a being, but where did it come from? We ourselves recognize ourselves as imperfect only because we measure our being by the idea of an all-perfect being. This means that this latter is not our invention, nor is it a conclusion from experience. It could be instilled in us, invested in us only by the all-perfect being himself. On the other hand, this idea is so real that we can divide it into logically clear elements: complete perfection is conceivable only under the condition of possessing all properties to the highest degree, and therefore full reality, infinitely superior to our own reality.

Thus, from the clear idea of an all-perfect being, the reality of the existence of God is deduced in two ways:

firstly, as the source of the very idea about him - this is, so to speak, psychological proof;
secondly, as an object whose properties necessarily include reality, this is a so-called ontological proof, that is, moving from the idea of being to the affirmation of the very existence of a conceivable being.

Nevertheless, together, Descartes’ proof of the existence of God must be recognized, in the expression

What the French mathematician, philosopher, physicist, mechanic and physiologist, creator of modern algebraic symbolism and analytical geometry, discovered, you will learn from this article.

René Descartes discoveries and contributions to science

Rene Descartes main ideas in philosophy

Descartes adhered to a dualistic philosophy, recognizing the existence of two entities in the world: thinking and extended. They interact under the leadership of the creator - God, who forms both entities according to the same law. But his main contribution is that he compared philosophy as classical rationalism with a universal method of cognition. The philosopher highlights special category- intelligence. He owns special role– evaluation of experimental data and derivation of hidden true laws in a new, mathematical language. And the power of the mind has no limits, provided it is used skillfully.

Another important feature of Descartes' philosophy is mechanism and skepticism. He is convinced that matter of any nature consists of large quantity elementary particles that interact locally and mechanically, producing natural phenomena. Rene Descartes was critical of the scholastic philosophical tradition.

Descartes' contributions to biology

The scientist became famous not only as a true philosopher. His achievements in biology are also great. What did Rene Descartes do? He studied the structure of all animal organs and their embryos on different stages development. Descartes was the first to make attempts to find out the essence of arbitrary and involuntary movements. He also describes the scheme of reflex reactions: the centrifugal and centripetal parts of the arc.

Rene Descartes' contributions to psychology

His biggest discovery in psychology, which had a further influence, was the introduction of the concept of “reflex” and the development of the principle of reflex activity. The Cartesian diagram was a model of an organism in the form of a working mechanism. In his understanding, a living body does not need the intervention of the soul. In addition, he developed the problem of passions as a bodily state, which is a regulator of mental life.

Rene Descartes' contributions to medicine

He tried to explain the principle of operation musculoskeletal system, kidney function, ventilation mechanisms, and so on. However, everyone was doing this scientists of that period of time. But his breakthrough was that Descartes explained the work human eye from the point of view of optical laws. His views were very progressive.

René Descartes' contributions to mathematics

In his work “Geometry” (1637), he introduced the concepts of “function” and “variable quantity”. Variable value Descartes represented in double form - as a part of variable length with a constant direction, the coordinate of a point, which with its movement describes a curve, and as a continuous variable with a set of numbers expressing a given segment. Rene Descartes initiated the study of the properties of equations. Together with P. Fermat, he developed analytical geometry and created the coordinate method.

We hope that from this article you learned what are the main discoveries of Rene Descartes in different areas Sciences.

Rene Descartes was a French mathematician, philosopher, physicist, physiologist, the most authoritative metaphysician of the New Age, a scientist who laid the foundations of analytical geometry, modern algebraic symbolism, and modern European rationalism. Descartes, born on March 31, 1596 in the city of Lae in the French province of Touraine, was the son of a councilor, a descendant of the impoverished noble family of De Cartes, which later gave the name to Cartesianism, a philosophical movement.

The first institution where he received his education was the Jesuit college of La Flèche, where his father placed Rene in 1606. The religious nature of his education paradoxically weakened Descartes' trust in scholastic philosophy. Within the walls of the college, fate brought him together with M. Mersenne, who became his friend and, being a mathematician, subsequently served as a link between Descartes and the scientific community.

After graduating from the Jesuit school, he entered the University of Poitiers, where in 1616 he received a bachelor's degree in law. IN next year Descartes joined the military and visited many places in Europe. While in Holland in 1618, Rene made acquaintance with a man who to a large extent influenced his development as a scientist - it was Isaac Beckman, a famous physicist and natural philosopher. The key year for scientific biography was, as Descartes himself admitted, 1619, and, most likely, we're talking about about the discovery of a universal method of cognition, which consisted in mathematical reasoning, the object of which was the results of practical experiments.

Descartes' love of freedom did not escape the attention of the Jesuits, who accused him of heresy. In 1628, the disgraced scientist left his native France for two decades, moving to Holland. In this country he did not have a permanent place of residence, moving from one city to another. The first book of programmatic content, “The World,” was written in 1634, but the scientist decided not to publish it: everyone was hearing about Galileo, who almost became a victim of the Inquisition. In 1637, his essay “Discourse on Method” was published, which many researchers consider the start of modern European philosophy.

Descartes' main philosophical work, “Reflections on First Philosophy,” written in Latin, was published in 1641; three years later, his “Principles of Philosophy” was published, in which natural philosophical and metaphysical views were combined. Last work philosophical content, “The Passions of the Soul,” was published in 1649 and significantly influenced the development of European thought. paid great attention Descartes and his studies in mathematics, which also played a huge role in the development of this science. In 1637 his work “Geometry” was published; with the introduction of the new coordinate method, people began to talk about him as the founder of analytical geometry.

Descartes' works were published in France thanks to the favor of Cardinal Richelieu, but they were condemned by Dutch theologians. Finally tired of for long years persecution, the scientist agreed to the invitation of Queen Christina of Sweden, with whom he had many years of correspondence, and in 1649 he moved to Stockholm. A tough schedule (to carry out the orders of the royal person and teach her, he had to get up at five in the morning), the cold climate led to the fact that he caught a severe cold and died on February 11, 1650 from pneumonia. There is a version that connects Descartes’ death with arsenic poisoning: supposedly, the crime was committed by forces who feared that under the influence of a freedom-loving mentor, Christina would not become a Catholic.

After his death, the scientist’s main works were included in the list of prohibited literature, and Descartes’ philosophy was prohibited from being studied in French educational institutions. Descartes' remains, 17 years after the funeral, were transported to his homeland, to the chapel of the Abbey of Saint-Germain des Pres. In 1792, it was planned to rebury his ashes in the Pantheon, but these intentions remained unfulfilled.

Rene Descartes was born on March 31, 1596 in the French city of Lae into a family with noble roots. In his biography, Rene Descartes was raised by his grandmother after the death of his mother. He studied at La Flèche College, where he received religious education. In 1618 he began to study legal issues, also doing mathematics. In 1617 he entered the Dutch army. He fought with the German army in the Battle of Prague.

After returning to France, Descartes moved again. Due to accusations of heresy, he decided to settle in Holland. In those days he devoted a lot of time to science. In 1637, Descartes' Discourse on Method was published. Following him came: “Reflections on First Philosophy”, “Principles of Philosophy”. For many years, the biography of the mathematician Descartes, his works were not recognized. Shortly after moving to Stockholm in 1649, Descartes died.

The main mathematical works of Descartes are “Discourse on Method” (the book sets out questions of analytical geometry), appendices to the book. The scientist also considered Vieta symbolism, polynomials, solutions to algebraic equations, complex numbers(the mathematician called them “false”). In addition, in his biography, Rene Descartes studied mechanics, optics, reflex activity person.

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