The ovals in the Excerpta Mathematica and the origins of Descartes' method of normals (Q990267)

The author traces Descartes' method of normals back to his work in dioptrics on ovals, written before 1629 but published posthumously in 1701. Along the way, he sketches some aspects of the method of normals, of the problem of measuring angles between curves and straight lines, of the definition of ovals (which are regarded as a generalization of conics), of Descartes' solution of an inverse normal problem that leads to ovals, and of the use by Descartes of his ``general method for finding tangents''. In doing this, the author has had to employ some clever guessing about the motivation and reasoning that led Descartes to many of his ideas. Of course, a great deal of credit in this whole domain is also owed, among others, to M. Galuzzi, K. Hara, M. van Otegem, M. Pana, R. Rashed, J. Scott, P. Tannery and A. Warusfel.