During the early seventeenth century, mathematics experienced a great deal of progress in the form of the development of algebra, trigonometry, the advance of geometry, and the linkage of form and motion with quantifiable numeric values undertaken by Rene Descartes. Armed with these tools, the science of physics began to advance rapidly. During the late sixteenth century Galileo Galilei demonstrated that gravity accelerated all objects toward the Earth at the same rate, and further explored the laws of motion. Other physicists explored the nature of matter, with the greatest advances coming in the understanding of the properties of gases, leading to the invention of the barometer, thermometer, and air pump. Physicists even strove to discover the structure of matter on the atomic scale.