Rene Déscartes (1596-1650), perhaps the wisest philosopher of all time, built a theory of man and the universe. He reasoned, "I think, therefore I am." He advised criticism, scepticism and rechecking of ideas. He described the path of a moving object at any point intersecting two parallel lines at right angles, by a list of positions and times. This he expressed in algebraic terms. He described a universe infinitely large, filled with infinitely divisible matter. Matter was “set in motion by God and the matter imparted motion to any body within”. The rotation of the sun was caused by the rotation of the matter in a whirlpool of dark matter. Planets were carried round the sun in this vortex. Matter continued in motion unless affected by that around it. He proposed two laws of motion: if two bodies have equal mass and velocity before collision then they will be reflected by that collision and retain their speed. If two bodies have unequal masses then the lighter body will be reflected with a speed equal to that of the heavier body. This was unfortunately not verified. Cartesian[1] theory survived almost indefinitely in France but was at odds with later Newtonian science. Déscartes built a theory of the nature of man and the universe. He described the motion of a body in time and mathematical terms, using algebra for the first time, and a universe full of infinitely divisible matter, set in motion by God. His concept of inertia proposed that the Earth does not move relative to the material it is within. He formulated two laws of motion. For a philosopher as obsessed with mechanism as Rene Déscartes[i] the relationship between visible machines and the invisible machinery (dark matter) of God’s cosmos was paramount. Two theories were proposed to account for optical phenomena. Déscartes was the author of one of these, surprisingly, the erroneous emission theory that supposed light to consist of small particles shot out by the luminous body[ii].


[1] From Déscartes’ name, this was called “Cartesian” theory. 


 

[i] Nature, volume 394, August 20th 1998, p.729, “A philosopher as obsessed with mechanism as Rene Déscartes.  Déscartes’ publications brilliantly exploit the modes of illustration available in the 17th century, from pictorial representations, to abstract diagrams”.

 

[ii] Extracted from the Dictionary of National Biography, 1892.

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