Rene
Descartes (1596 – 1650) is known as
“the father of modern philosophy.” In mathematics, he invented the
Cartesian coordinate system and analytic geometry. His most famous
statement was “I think, therefore I am.”
Albert
Einstein (1879 – 1955) is considered by
many to be one of the greatest physicists of all time. He is best known
for his theory of relativity, but also made major contributions to quantum
theory and statistical mechanics. Einstein was born in Germany, but in the
1930s was granted permanent residence in the United States. He became an
American citizen in 1940.
Jean
Baptiste Joseph Fourier (1768 – 1830)
was a French physicist and mathematician who is known for investigating
the Fourier series and its application to problems of heat flow. The
Fourier transform is
named after him. In 1827, Fourier observed that atmospheric gases might
increase the earth’s temperature; this would later be called the
greenhouse effect.
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