Who invented analytic geometry

Boyer, the driver, will let the reader stay on board for a general historical overview; or one can hop off at any stage to explore the intricate mathematical or historical byways. Either way, the journey is well worthwhile. Peter Ruane taught mathematics to people from the age of 5 to 55 — that is, from early school arithmetic to transfinite arithmetic.

The Earliest Contributions II. The Medieval Period IV. The Early Modern Prelude V. Fermat and Descartes VI. The Definitive Formulation IX. The Golden Age Analytical bibliography Index. Skip to main content. Search form Search. Login Join Give Shops. Halmos - Lester R. Ford Awards Merten M. Carl B. Publication Date:. Number of Pages:. BLL Rating:. Log in to post comments.

Apply for Funding Now. Congratulations to Hortensia Soto and Adriana Salerno! Descartes believed that a system of knowledge should start from first principles and proceed mathematically to a series of deductions, reducing physics to mathematics. The only thing that he believed he could be certain of was that he was doubting, leading to his famous phrase "Cogito ergo sum", I think, therefore I am.

From this one phrase, he derived the rest of his philosophy. Descartes formulates the following principles for the reasoning process:. Descartes showed that if a geometric construction requires in its analytic form nothing but addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and the extraction of square roots, then it can be achieved with ruler and compass.