Descartes

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Descartes \Descartes\ (d[asl]*k[aum]rt") prop. n.
     Ren['e] Descartes, a French philosopher and mathematician,
     born 1596, died 1650. See biography, below.
  
     Syn: Rene Descartes.
          [WordNet 1.5] Descartes, Ren['e] (Latinized Renatus


          Cartesius). Born at La Haye, Touraine, France, March 31,
          1596: died at Stockholm, Feb. 11, 1650. A. celebrated
          French philosopher, founder of Cartesianism and of
          modern philosophy in general. He was graduated at
          seventeen from the Jesuit college of La Fl[`e]che, spent
          five years in Paris (1613-18), and then roamed about in
          search of knowledge in Germany, Italy, Holland, and
          Poland. In 1628 he attended the siege of La Rochelle as
          a volunteer. From 1629 to 1649 he led a retired life in
          Holland, spreading and defending his philosophical
          ideas. He finally went to Stockholm on the invitation of
          Queen Christina of Sweden; five months later he died
          there of pneumonia. The work that has made him famous as
          a philosopher is a short treatise entitled "Discours de
          la m['e]thode" (Leyden, 1637). It was published in
          French together with three essays in support of his
          theories, "La dioptrique," "Les m['e]t['e]ores," and "La
          g['e]om['e]trie." In it he revolutionized the science of
          thought. Descartes himself published during his lifetime
          "Meditationes de prima philosophia "(Paris, 1641;
          Amsterdam, 1642; translated into French, 1647),
          "Principia philosophiae" (Amsterdam, 1644), "Trait['e]
          des passions de l'[^a]me" (Amsterdam, 1649), and a
          polemic pamphlet entitled "Epistola Renati Descartes ad
          Gisbertum Vo["e]itum" (Amsterdam, 1643). After his death
          his friends published his "De l'homme" (1664),
          "Trait['e] de la formation du foetus" (1664), "Le monde
          ou trait['e] de la lumi[`e]re de Descartes" (1664),
          "Lettres" (1657-67), and "Opuscula posthuma, physica et
          mathematica" (Amsterdam, 1701). Descartes ranked among
          the foremost mathematicians of his day. A separate
          reprint was made of his geometry, and the work itself
          was translated into Latin in 1649, and re["e]dited in
          1659 with notes and comments. In this form it
          constituted a classic standard throughout Europe, and
          presented an entirely new basis for the study of algebra
          and geometry.
          [Century Dict. 1906]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  Descartes
       n : French philosopher and mathematician; developed dualistic
           theory of mind and matter; introduced the use of
           coordinates to locate a point in two or three dimensions
           (1596-1650) [syn: {Rene Descartes}]