Covering both the history of mathematics and of philosophy,
Descartes's Mathematical Thought reconstructs the intellectual
career of Descartes most comprehensively and originally in a global
perspective including the history of early modern China and Japan.
Especially, it shows what the concept of "mathesis universalis" meant
before and during the period of Descartes and how it influenced the
young Descartes. In fact, it was the most fundamental mathematical
discipline during the seventeenth century, and for Descartes a key
notion which may have led to his novel mathematics of algebraic
analysis.