Mathematical Treasure: Geometry of Francois Viete

In his Supplementum Geometriae of 1593, François Viète (1540-1603) employed neusis constructions to tackle the three classical problems of antiquity: angle trisection, doubling the volume of a cube, and constructing a square with the same area as a circle.

The first page of text offers the author’s explanation of the work.

Proposition XVI offers a construction for the solution of a cubic equation.

In Proposition XXIIII, Viète demonstrated the construction of a heptagon.

This material is obtained through the courtesy of the National Central Library of Rome. A complete copy of this work can be viewed in the Internet Archive.

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