Mathematical Treasure: Grégoire de Saint-Vincent’s Opus geometricum quadraturae circuli et sectionum coni

Author(s):

Frank J. Swetz (The Pennsylvania State University)

Grégoire de Saint-Vincent (1584–1667) was a Flemish Jesuit priest and mathematics teacher whose obsession with the quadrature of a circle led to innovations in polar coordinates, contributed to the geometrical study of transformations, and provided a harbinger of integration. His major work was the two-volume Opus geometricum quadraturae circuli et sectionum coni. Decem libris comprehensum, published in 1647.

Title page of volume 1, Opus geometricum quadraturae circuli et sectionum coni (1647).

Dedication page of volume 1, Opus geometricum quadraturae circuli et sectionum coni (1647).

Table of contents page from volume 1, Opus geometricum quadraturae circuli et sectionum coni (1647).

First page of Book 1 from volume 1, Opus geometricum quadraturae circuli et sectionum coni (1647).

Title page of volume 2, Opus geometricum quadraturae circuli et sectionum coni (1647).

First part on hyperbolas, volume 2, Opus geometricum quadraturae circuli et sectionum coni (1647).

Hyperbola diagrams and proofs, volume 2, Opus geometricum quadraturae circuli et sectionum coni (1647).

Read full digitizations of volume 1 and volume 2, both owned by the National Library of Naples, in GoogleBooks.

Index to Mathematical Treasures

Frank J. Swetz (The Pennsylvania State University), "Mathematical Treasure: Grégoire de Saint-Vincent’s Opus geometricum quadraturae circuli et sectionum coni," Convergence (January 2024)

Convergence

Tags:

History of Mathematics