(31. 3. 1596 La Haye, now Descartes, FR – 11. 2. 1650 Stockholm, SE)
Great French philosopher and mathematician
Student of Gool in Leiden
Published an influential book La géométrie from which we now have Cartesian geometry
Best known for his philosophical statement “Cogito ergo sum” (French: Je pense, donc je suis; English: I think, therefore I am; česky: Myslím, a tedy jsem)
Credit, Wkipedia. Available online http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Descartes
The Mathematics Genealogy Project.
Available online http://genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=125358
The MacTutor History of Mathematics.
Available online http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Descartes.html