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]
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