Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Descartes' Le Monde, 1664 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.
René Descartes (/ d eɪ ˈ k ɑːr t / day-KART or UK: / ˈ d eɪ k ɑːr t / DAY-kart; French: [ʁəne dekaʁt] ⓘ; [note 3] [11] 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) [12] [13]: 58 was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and science.
Dioptrique is a treatise by René Descartes on the nature and properties of light, published in 1637. It contains his famous Law of Refraction, based on models of light as a stick, a wine vat, and a tennis ball.
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.
A comprehensive overview of the development of physics from ancient to modern times, covering various topics, branches, and discoveries. The web page does not mention who is the father of physics, but it does feature some prominent figures such as Thales, Aristotle, Archimedes, and Galileo.
Snell's law (also known as the Snell–Descartes law, the ibn-Sahl law, [1] 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.
Vis viva is a term coined by Leibniz to describe a quantity similar to kinetic energy in an early formulation of the conservation of energy principle. The term was controversial and disputed with the rival concept of momentum, and was later recalibrated to include a coefficient of a half.
Reductionism is the idea that complex systems can be explained by simpler or more fundamental phenomena. It can apply to ontology, methodology, theory, and levels of explanation in various fields, such as science, religion, and mathematics.