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Mathematical Treasure: Collected Works of John Wallis

Author(s): 
Frank J. Swetz (The Pennsylvania State University)

The collected works, Opera Mathematica, of John Wallis (1616–1703) were published in three folio volumes during the period 1693–1699. This is the title page for a 1695 printing of the first volume (original 1693).

The frontispiece shows Wallis in his academic garb.

An illustration of the solar eclipse for the year 1654 from a reprint of 1655’s Eclipsis solaris Oxonii visae anno aerae Christianae 1654. 2° die mensis augusti in the 1695 second volume:

On page 499, Wallis began a discussion of the cycloid.

The third volume of this Collection appeared in 1699 and bore a different portrait of Wallis than the frontispiece of the first volume.

This material was obtained through the courtesy of the Peabody Library of Johns Hopkins University.

Index to Mathematical Treasures

Frank J. Swetz (The Pennsylvania State University), "Mathematical Treasure: Collected Works of John Wallis," Convergence (July 2016)