Mathematical Treasure: Mathematical Lessons or Interviews

Benjamin Panchaud (1725–1757) was a Swiss mathematician and political radical of the period. Little is known of his work other than that he proposed and used the symbol “:=:” to designate the equality of ratios. In 1743, when he was 18 years old, he wrote Entretiens ou Leçons Mathématiques sur la maniere d'étudier cette science … (Interviews or mathematics lessons on the way to study this science ...). The “interviews” are in the form of a dialogue between a “Mathesius” and a “Neander”. These protagonists remain unidentified but could possibly be German mathematician Michael Neander (1529–1581) and his humanist colleague Johannes Mathesius (1504–1565).

The first page of the text introduces the dialogue.

These images were obtained through the courtesy of ETH-Bibliothek Zürich. The book may be viewed in its entirety at e-rara: http://dx.doi.org/10.3931/e-rara-8666

Index to Mathematical Treasures