Geometry
by René Descartes · La Géométrie
Assigned by 3 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1637
- Language
- French
- Length
- Medium · 240 pp120 to 300 pages
- Difficulty
- Formidable5 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThe Geometry of René Descartes, translated by David Eugene Smith and Marcia L. LathamDover, 1954Facing-page French and English facsimile, the only edition in general use.
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One of the three essays appended to the Discourse on Method, and the founding text of analytic geometry. Descartes shows that the arithmetical operations can be performed on line segments, so that curves can be represented by equations in two unknowns and geometrical problems solved algebraically. Book one treats problems solvable with circles and straight lines. Book two classifies curves by the degree of their equations and finds their normals and tangents. Book three applies the algebra to the roots of equations and the classical problems of doubling the cube and trisecting the angle.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Geometry are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
