René Descartes

French philosopher and mathematician (1596-1650).

Life and Work

Descartes is best known for “I think, therefore I am” (cogito ergo sum), his attempt to find one absolutely certain foundation for knowledge. He built an entire philosophical system from that starting point.

In mathematics, he invented the coordinate system that bears his name — Cartesian coordinates — which made it possible to express geometric shapes as algebraic equations. This was a genuine revolution in how math was done.

His physics was another matter. Descartes proposed that the universe was filled with swirling vortices of matter that carried the planets in their orbits. This vortex theory dominated Continental science for decades. Newton’s Principia (1687) demolished it by showing that gravity alone explained planetary motion, without any vortices.

Leibniz was heavily influenced by Descartes’ philosophy and mathematics. Newton defined himself against Descartes — the Principia’s full title, Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, is a deliberate contrast with Descartes’ Principles of Philosophy.

In the Novel

Descartes died in 1650, before the novel’s main action begins, but his ideas are everywhere. The tension between Cartesian and Newtonian physics runs through the scientific debates in the book.