René Descartes was born in 1596 in La Haye, France, and became one of the founders of modern philosophy as well as an important mathematician. After studying at the Jesuit college of La Flèche, he trained in law and travelled across Europe as a soldier and independent scholar. From 1628 he spent much of his working life in the Dutch Republic, where he sought the freedom and quiet to develop his ideas.

Descartes wanted to build knowledge upon foundations that could withstand the most radical doubt. His Discourse on the Method, published in 1637, contained the famous statement 'I think, therefore I am'. In his Meditations of 1641, he explored knowledge, the existence of God and the relationship between mind and body. His mathematical work also helped establish analytic geometry, linking algebra to the study of shapes and space.

His ideas met opposition from both Catholic and Protestant thinkers, who feared that his new philosophy threatened accepted teachings. Descartes did not, however, regard himself as an enemy of religion. In 1649 he accepted an invitation to the court of Queen Christina of Sweden and died in Stockholm the following year. His emphasis on doubt, reason and method transformed European intellectual life.