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Rene Descartes did major research in optics, geometry, astronomy and physiology, although he published nothing until he was over forty. The Discourse forms the preface to his first collection of scientific papers, sketching in a new method based on hypothesis and deduction which was soon to replace techniques derived from Aristotle. The age of Newton marks one of the great turning points in intellectual history; Descartes has a key place at its very heart.
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