Rene Descartes

1596 – 1650

René Descartes was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician widely considered a foundational figure in the emergence of modern philosophy. His Meditations on First Philosophy (1641) introduced the methodological doubt that culminated in his famous formulation "cogito, ergo sum"—I think, therefore I am—and his Discourse on the Method (1637) helped inaugurate modern rationalism. He also unified algebra and geometry into analytic geometry, and the Cartesian coordinate system bears his name.

Last checked: May 10, 2026, 1:06 PM