Newton on constructions in geometry (Q6148338): Difference between revisions

Descartes's concept of construction and the method of tracing curves known as `turning ruler and moving curve' (tRmC) which were laid down in his \textit{Geometry} of 1637, raised many subsequent critical responses. One of the most prominent critics was Isaac Newton who in the 1680s came up with his own geometric program and so-called `organic' construction of curves. The author argues that although Newton's technique is more general than Descartes's tRmC, his critique in his early lectures on algebra is simplistic, immature and the result of direct opposition to Descartes. Then, later in the early 1690s, Newton's critique was on more acceptable grounds where for example he criticised Descartes's measure of complexity of a geometric construction based solely on the degree of algebraic curves. Historians of mathematics have considered various aspects of Newton's mathematical work: calculus, series, fluxions, numerical approximations, etc. In this interesting paper his work on constructions in geometry is examined, comparing it to Descartes's geometric constructions.