Mathematical Treasure: Van Schooten’s Exercitationum Mathematicarum

The five books of Frans van Schooten’s Exercitationum Mathematicarum of 1657 were published in one volume but also, apparently, as five separate texts. Here are excerpts from Book I on arithmetic and elementary geometry.

On page 322, Van Schooten demonstrated the use of a linkage mechanism to construct an ellipse.

On pages 336 and 347, a hyperbola is constructed employing two different methods.

For more information, see the Convergence article, "Van Schooten’s Ruler Constructions."

The images above are presented courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania Libraries.

Index of Mathematical Treasures