The ovals in the Excerpta Mathematica and the origins of Descartes' method of normals

作者：Maronne Sebastien^*

来源：Historia Mathematica, 2010, 37(3): 460-484.

DOI：10.1016/j.hm.2010.03.008

• Descartes
• Dioptrics
• Ovals
• Normals
• Indeterminate coecients
• La Geometrie

The only occurrence of Descartes' method of normals before La Geometric (1637) is to be found in the Excerpta Mathematica. These mathematical fragments, published posthumously among others works in 1701, and dated by Tannery before 1629, deal with curves used in dioptrics which Descartes called ovals. I study in detail two of the texts on ovals together with the related texts in La Geometrie in order to shed light on the geometrical origins of Descartes' method of normals. 2010 Elsevier Inc.

• 出版日期2010-8