Rene Descartes was a central figure in the scientific revolution of the seventee
nth century. In his Discourse on Method he outlined the contrast between mathema
tics and experimental sciences, and the extent to which each one can achieve cer
tainty. Drawing on his own work in geometry, optics, astronomy and physiology, D
escartes developed the hypothetical method that characterizes modern science, an
d this soon came to replace the traditional techniques derived from Aristotle.
