Contributions to Mathematics and Physics- 

Descartes' main contribution to the field of Mathematics & Physics were his analytical geometry as well as his theories of vortices respectively. Analytical geometry was no more the application of algebra to geometry. Descartes explains this concept in his book, La Geometrie, published in the year 1637. 

Descartes believed that human efforts were better directed towards the discovery of mechanistic causes of things. Descartes contribution to the field of Physics has made itself evident in the fact that Isaac Newton's first law of motion is based on the principle set forth by Descartes.