The chords theorem recalled to life at the turn of the eighteenth century (Q2238852)

The paper is concerned with the historical development of the chords theorem for conic sections from Apollonius to Boscovich. After an introduction the way to generalise the chords theorem from Apollonius to Philippe de La Hire (1640--1718) is described in detail and diagrams are presented to explain the geometry involved. Pascal and Guarino Guarini (1624--1683) proved theorems from which either the chords theorem follows or resulted in proofs of the theorem itself. As it turns out the chords theorem not only provided a sound basis for Newton's geometrical achievements but also led to his results on the organic construction of conics as well as on cubic curves. Works of de L'Hospital, Le Poivre, and Chasles are described before Boscovich's attack of the chords theorem from a new point of view is developed, culminating in his fundamental paper of 1746. The paper under review provides important details of the historical development of the chords theorem.