The Mark Steel Lectures
Rene Descartes (3x3)
: 09, 2006
Join the award winning comedian Mark Steel as he charts Descartes
course through scientific history; his stint as a card shark in the
Dutch army, his invention of the little 2, the symbol used to
signify a squared number, his invention of the x and y used in
algebra. Not to mention his numerous biological experiments that
gave us first clear idea that the senses were linked to the central
nervous system and his seminal work, ‘The Meditations’ in which he
constructed a theory of the universe which instead of beginning
with blind faith, insisted on the prominence of doubt as a starting
point.
Not bad for a bloke with a rubbish catchphrase.