Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Dover Publications (1954), Paperback, 244 pages
Description
The great work that founded analytical geometry. Included here is the original French text, Descartes' own diagrams, together with the definitive Smith-Latham translation. "The greatest single step ever made in the progress of the exact sciences." -- John Stuart Mill.
User reviews
LibraryThing member jpsnow
Book I: discusses construction of certain geometric figures using instruments, compares basic elements of geometry to basic operations in arithmetic; Book II: proves that the set of curved figures described by the range of 3rd order equations is limited to the known set of surfaces (circle,
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ellipse, hyperbola, parabola); also makes references to his own Dioptrique; Book III: "But it is not my purpose to write a large book. I am trying rather to include much in a few words.... I hope that posterity will judge me kindly, not only as to the things which I have explained, but also as to those which I have intentionally omitted so as to leave others the pleasure of discovery." Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original language
French
Original publication date
1637
Physical description
244 p.; 8 inches
ISBN
0486600688 / 9780486600680