Chapter 3 Projects
EQUATIONS AND INEQUALITIES IN TWO VARIABLES

RESEARCH PROJECT: Descartes and Pascal

In this chapter we mentioned that Rene´ Descartes, the inventor of the rectangular coordinate system, is the person who made the statement "I think, therefore I am." Blaise Pascal, who we mentioned in a previous research project, is responsible for the statement "The heart has its reasons which reason does not know." Although Pascal and Descartes were contemporaries, the philosophies of the two men differed greatly. Research the philosophy of both Descartes and Pascal, and then write an essay that gives the main points of each man's philosophy. In the essay, show how the quotations given above fit in with the philosophy of the man responsible for the quotation.