In 1650, he reluctantly took a position in Sweden (which he scorned as “the country of bears, amid rocks and ice”) as Queen Christina’s personal philosophy tutor. Unfortunately for Descartes, the energetic young queen was an early riser. She insisted on lessons at five in the morning, an ungodly hour for anyone but especially for Descartes, accustomed to getting up at noon his whole life. That winter in Stockholm was the coldest in decades. After a few weeks, Descartes caught pneumonia and died.
