Descartes: The Life and Times of a Genius

Philosopher A. C. Grayling tells the life of Rene Descartes, the French thinker often called the father of modern philosophy. Grayling places Descartes in the turbulent Europe of the Thirty Years' War, following his travels, his time as a soldier and his years in the Netherlands. He also explores the possibility that Descartes worked as a spy for the Jesuits. Alongside the life, Grayling explains the ideas in philosophy, mathematics and science that made Descartes so influential.

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Paul Graham: “I'm reading Grayling's biography of Descartes.”