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The vortex theory of the atom was a 19th-century attempt by William Thomson (later Lord Kelvin) to explain why the atoms recently discovered by chemists came in only relatively few varieties but in very great numbers of each kind. Based on the idea of stable, knotted vortices in the ether or aether, it contributed an important mathematical legacy.
Snell's law (also known as the Snell–Descartes law, the ibn-Sahl law, and the law of refraction) is a formula used to describe the relationship between the angles of incidence and refraction, when referring to light or other waves passing through a boundary between two different isotropic media, such as water, glass, or air.
René Descartes. Principles of Philosophy ( Latin: Principia Philosophiae) is a book by René Descartes. In essence, it is a synthesis of the Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy. [1] It was written in Latin, published in 1644 and dedicated to Elisabeth of Bohemia, with whom Descartes had a long-standing friendship.
Extension (metaphysics) In metaphysics, extension signifies both 'stretching out' (Latin: extensio) as well as later 'taking up space', and most recently, spreading one's internal mental cognition into the external world. The history of thinking about extension can be traced back at least to Archytas ' spear analogy for the infinity of space.
The wax argument or the sheet of wax example is a thought experiment that René Descartes created in the second of his Meditations on First Philosophy.He devised it to analyze what properties are essential for bodies, show how uncertain our knowledge of the world is compared to our knowledge of our minds, and argue for rationalism.
Tree of knowledge (philosophy) The tree of knowledge or tree of philosophy is a metaphor presented by the French philosopher René Descartes in the preface to the French translation of his work Principles of Philosophy to describe the relations among the different parts of philosophy in the shape of a tree. He describes knowledge as a tree.
The Descartes Prize was an annual award in science given by the European Union, named in honour of the French mathematician and philosopher, René Descartes . The prizes recognized Outstanding Scientific and Technological Achievements Resulting from European Collaborative Research. The research prize was first awarded in 2000 and was ...
The World, also called Treatise on the Light ( French title: Traité du monde et de la lumière ), is a book by René Descartes (1596–1650). Written between 1629 and 1633, it contains a nearly complete version of his philosophy, from method, to metaphysics, to physics and biology . Descartes espoused mechanical philosophy, a form of natural ...