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Mathematical Treasure: French Academy Report of 1693
The French Royal Academy of Sciences was established in 1666 by Louis XIV to encourage and protect French research in the sciences. The Academy’s journal/report for the year 1693, titled Divers Ouvrages de Mathematique et de Physique, is examined below.
The listing of contributions in the “Table of Contents” reveals the work of several notable mathematicians: de Frenicle, Roberval, Torricelli, and Mersenne.
An entry on page 230 discusses the cycloid.
On pages 322-323, Mersenne discussed the construction of a hyperbola given its corresponding set of asymptotes.
The images above are presented courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania Libraries.
Frank J. Swetz (The Pennsylvania State University), "Mathematical Treasure: French Academy Report of 1693," Convergence (August 2016)
