You are here

Mathematical Treasure: Vincenzo Viviani’s De Maximis et Minimis

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

Vincenzo Viviani (1622–1703) was an Italian mathematician who studied under Evangelista Torricelli and later became an assistant and lifelong friend and admirer of Galileo Galilei. He wrote multiple works on the conic sections, including his De Maximis et Minimis of 1659.

Title page of Viviani's 1659 De Maximis et Minimis.

A plate of his illustrations:

Plate from Viviani's 1659 De Maximis et Minimis.

GoogleBooks has digitized the copy owned by the British Library.

Index to Mathematical Treasures

Frank J. Swetz (The Pennsylvania State University), "Mathematical Treasure: Vincenzo Viviani’s De Maximis et Minimis," Convergence (March 2022)