Rene Descartes has been heralded as the first modern philosopher.

He is famous for having made an important connection between geometry and

algebra, which allowed for the solving of geometrical problems by way of
algebraic equations. He is also famous for having promoted a new conception of
matter, which allowed for the accounting of physical phenomena by way of
mechanical explanations. However, he is most famous for having written a
relatively short work, Meditationes de Prima Philosophia (Meditations On First
Philosophy), published in 1641, in which he provides a philosophical groundwork
fDescartes was born in La Haye on March 31, 1596 of Joachim Descartes and
Jeanne Brochard. He was one of a number of surviving children (two siblings and
two half-siblings). His father was a lawyer and magistrate, which apparently left
little time for family. Descartes' mother died in May of the year following his
birth, and he, his full brother and sister, Pierre and Jeanne, were left to be raised
by their grandmother in La Haye. At around ten years of age, in 1606, he was sent
to the Jesuit college of La Flche. He studied there until 1614, and in 1615 entered
the University of Poitiers, where a year later he received his Baccalaureate and
License in Canon & Civil Law. For the history and the text of his thesis, see the
following supplementary