René Descartes was a French philosopher born in 1596 who is known as "The Father of Modern Philosophy." He developed the philosophical position of rationalism which holds that reason is the chief source of knowledge rather than experience or empiricism. Descartes' most famous philosophical statement is "Cogito, ergo sum" which means "I think, therefore I am." He had a major influence on the Scientific Revolution and made important contributions to mathematics through his developments of analytical geometry and calculus.