René Descartes died on February 11, 1650, in Stockholm, Sweden, succumbing to pneumonia at the age of 53. He was in Stockholm at the time to help the queen of Sweden set up an academy of science. Queen Christina, only 22 years old, made Descartes rise before 5:00 AM for her daily lesson—something which proved detrimental to his health, as he was used to sleeping late since childhood to accommodate his sickly nature. One morning, likely as a result of this early rising, combined with the freezing Swedish winters, Descartes caught a chill that proved to be fatal.
How did René Descartes die?
What is René Descartes known for?
René Descartes is most commonly known for his philosophical statement, “I think, therefore I am” (originally in French, but best known by its Latin translation: "Cogito, ergo sum”). He is also attributed with developing Cartesian dualism (also referred to as mind-body dualism), the metaphysical argument that the mind and body are two different substances which interact with one another. In the mathematics sphere, his primary contribution came from bridging the gap between algebra and geometry, which resulted in the Cartesian coordinate system still widely used today.