world history

Zach Gardner

World History

McKeever, 6

Rene Descartes

      I, Rene Descartes, was born on March 31, 1596 in La Haye, which is in southern France. I died on February 11, 1650 in Stockholm, Sweden. Throughout my life time, I was interested in many different topics including Math, Physical Science, and Philosophy. Sometimes, I am referred to as the ‘Father of Modern Philosophy’ because of my achievements in that particular subject of study. I graduated from the University of Poitiers in 1616 and a few of my favorite subjects were Math and especially Law. After all of my schooling, I moved to the Netherlands and joined the army of Maurice of Nassau. A great thing happened during this time, which is when I met Issac Beeckman. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have had the great achievements I did. When I was done with that journey throughout Europe, I decided to settle in the Netherlands and live out my life there. One of my most important achievements was the geometrical Cartesian Coordinate Plane.

            I was really into math and especially geometry. I eventually came up with the Cartesian Coordinate Plane in 1635. You may ask yourself, what could such a complicated sounding thing be? The answer is simply that it is a grid where coordinate points can be graphed individually or in groups with other coordinates. The Cartesian part comes from my last name, Descartes(ian). It is a two-dimensional grid that is formed when two perpendicular lines intersect to form a cross in the middle, which is at the point (0,0), or the origin. Then you should have four quadrants around the lines. The quadrants go counter-clockwise from the upper-right starting at one, then two, then three, and finally four. But that’s only the beginning! If you have two specific numbers, one for each line, you can make an ordered pair which is this: (x,y). X being the horizontal line and Y being the vertical line. Back to the quadrants, I- (+,+), II- (-,+), III- (-,-), and IV- (+,-). So if the ordered pair was (4,-2), it would be in quadrant IV because it has a positive then negative number. So you would go four spaces to the right, then two spaces down and the ordered pair becomes a coordinate on the Cartesian Coordinate Plane. The very interesting thing is that since numbers are infinite, so are the values of coordinates on the Cartesian Coordinate Plane. The Cartesian Coordinate Plane is my greatest achievement.

            Since the Cartesian Coordinate Plane is my most important achievement, it needs to have other contributions to the world. The main contribution that my coordinate plane has had on the world is that of it being the basis for the mapping coordinate grid of the Earth, Latitude and Longitude.  Without this, we would not be able to do hundreds of different things we can do today. If you were on an airplane, and the pilots didn’t have latitude and longitude they might never find the right place to land. Latitude and Longitude is directly related to my Cartesian Coordinate Plane except that the axis’ are three-dimensional with a circular shape. The Equator would represent the X-axis while the Prime Meridian represents the Y-axis.  Also, the Cartesian Coordinate Plane has made all aspects of math so much easier, especially geometry and also algebra. I think that my Cartesian Coordinate Plane has had a huge impact on modern day society.

            One of the most important things I did in my whole life was creating the geometrical Cartesian Coordinate Plane. Overall, it is a two-dimensional grid with two perpendicular lines that allow specific points, or coordinates, to be graphed onto the plane. It allows positive and negative points to be plotted, which is a lot like plotting things below or above the Equator or right or left from the Prime Meridian. I think that being able to alter my Cartesian Coordinate Plane to be a map of the whole world is unbelievable and outstanding and has greatly helped humanity in multiple ways. I, Rene Descartes, invented the Cartesian Coordinate Plane and it is my greatest contribution to society and its greatest effect on the world has been its conversion to Latitude and Longitude, a three-dimensional map of the world.

           

Bibliography-

"The Server Side." theserverside.com. N.p., 2010. Web. 16 Mar 2011. <http://www.theserverside.com/discussions/thread.tss?thread_id=11742

"Cartesian Coordinate Plane." math.about.com. Web. 14 Mar 2011.      <http://math.about.com/od/geometry/ss/cartesian.htm>.

"Descartes, Rene (1596-1650)." DISCovering Biography. Online ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003.     Discovering Collection. Gale. Edina High School Library. 8 Mar. 2011 <http://find.galegroup.com/srcx/infomark.do?&contentSet=GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID=T001&prodId=DC&docId=EJ2102100489&source=gale&srcprod=DISC&userGroupName=mnkedinahs&version=1.0>.