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Descartes is born
Descartes was born in La Haye, France, near the city of Tours, on March 31, 1596. His father was a lawyer and judge, so he was too busy to spend time with his family. Descartes' mother died when he was only 1, so he was raised by his grandmother. -
Descartes' Education
At around ten years old, in 1606, he was sent to the Jesuit college of La Fleche. He studied classics, logic, philosophy, and mathematics there until 1614. -
Descartes Enlists in Prince Maurice's Army
In 1618, Descartes enlists as a soldier in the Thirty Years War, and went to Holland to serve in the army of Prince Maurice of Nassau. He was in a group that used math to design structures and machines to help the soldiers in battle. -
Descartes Influenced by his Teacher
Between 1618 and 1619, Descartes met his most influential teacher, Isaac Beeckman, in Holland. Beeckman opened Rene’s eyes to the possibility of applying mathematical techniques to other fields. -
The Great Dream
He traveled to Germany with the Army of Prince Maurice. On November 10, 1619, Descartes receives his great vision in the army camp at Ulm, after staring at a spider web. He dreamed that he would create a universal science based on math, which became the basis for analytical geometry. -
Moving to Holland
In 1628, Descartes moved back to Holland, which became his home until 1649. He moved there so he could be alone and quiet, to think and work on math and philosophy without being interrupted. -
Descartes Writes "The World"
In 1629, he began working on The World (Le Monde in French), which was one of his most important books on philosophy. It talks about natural philosophy, but also how it is related to physics and biology. He didn’t publish it until 1664 because he was afraid he would be punished for his different thinking, just like other scientists had been. -
Descartes' Daughter is born
On July 19, 1635, Francine Descartes, daughter of Rene’ and his servant, was born in Deventer, Holland. Rene’ and Francine’s mom never married, and Rene’ told everyone his daughter was really his niece, but he took good care of her. -
I think, Therefore Iam
In 1636, Descartes works on his book Discourse on Method, which was about looking for truth in science. In Discourse on Method is his famous quote, “I think, therefore I am”. -
The Father of Analytic Geometry
In 1637, Descartes published 3 other works, Optics, Meteorology, and Geometry. In Geometry is his 1st introduction of the Cartesian Coordinate System, and exponents. Using the Cartesian system, geometric shapes can be described by algebraic equations using the coordinates. -
Descartes Daughter Dies
Decartes’ daughter Francine died of scarlet fever at age 5 on September 7, 1640. He was very sad, and his writings also changed from focusing on medicine and math to almost all philosophy. -
Descartes Befriends Princess Elizabeth
In 1643, Descartes became friends with Princess Elizabeth of Bohemia, who had believed in his writings. She helped him to think about things like morals, and therefore he wrote another book called The Passions of the Soul. -
Publishing "The Principles of Philosophy"
In 1644, he published The Principles of Philosophy. It put the whole universe on a mathematical foundation of mechanics. -
Descartes Tutors Queen Christina of Sweden
In 1649, Descartes accepted an invitation from Queen Christina of Sweden (1626–1689) to become her teacher. She was very interested in philosophy, and he was known as one of the most important philosophers of his time. -
Death of the Father of Modern Philosophy
On February 11, 1650, in Stockholm, Sweden, Descartes died of pneumonia. It was very cold there, and he was giving lessons in a damp building very early in the morning. He probably got sick while taking care of his friend, the French Ambassador, who also had pneumonia.
