Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-ws8qp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-27T03:16:17.569Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Al-Qūhī and al-Sijzī on the perfect compass and the continuous drawing of conic sections

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 March 2003

Roshdi Rashed
Affiliation:
Centre d'histoire des sciences et des philosophies arabes et médiévales, 7 rue Guy Môquet, B.P. no 8, 9 4801 Villejuif Cedex, France

Abstract

From the second half of the 10th century, mathematicians developed a new chapter in the geometry of conic sections, dealing with the theory and practice of their continuous drawing. In this article, we propose to sketch the history of this chapter in the writings of al-Qūhī and al-Sijzī. A hitherto unknown treatise by al-Sijzī - established, translated, and commented - has enabled us better to situate and understand the themes of this new research, and how it eventually approached the problem of the classification of curves in previously unknown terms.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2003 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)