Descartes
[dey-kahrt; French dey-kart]
- Re·né [ruh-ney; French ruh-ney] /rəˈneɪ; French rəˈneɪ/, 1596–1650, French philosopher and mathematician.
Show More
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Descartes
- René (rəne). 1596–1650, French philosopher and mathematician. He provided a mechanistic basis for the philosophical theory of dualism and is regarded as the founder of modern philosophy. He also founded analytical geometry and contributed greatly to the science of optics. His works include Discours de la méthode (1637), Meditationes de Prima Philosophia (1641), and Principia Philosophiae (1644)
Show More
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Descartes
[dā-kärt′]
- French mathematician and philosopher who discovered that the position of a point can be determined by coordinates, a discovery that laid the foundation for analytic geometry.
Show More
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.