Euclid's Elements of Geometry, the First Six Books: To Which Are Added, Elements of Plain and Spherical Trigonometry, a System of Conick Sections, Elements of Natural Philosophy, as Far as It Relates to Astronomy, According To9 the Newtonlan System, and Elements of Astronomy: With Notes

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Fb&c Limited, Jun 24, 2015 - Mathematics - 504 pages
Excerpt from Euclid's Elements of Geometry, the First Six Books: To Which Are Added, Elements of Plain and Spherical Trigonometry, a System of Conick Sections, Elements of Natural Philosophy, as Far as It Relates to Astronomy, According To9 the Newtonlan System, and Elements of Astronomy: With Notes

Reverend Sir. - It seems matter of considerable regret, that, notwithstanding the great Newton, more than a century since, has, in his mathematical principles of Natural Philosophy, developed those discoveries, which have met with such universal admiration, and concurrence of judgment among the learned, yet this invaluable work remains, at this day, almost a locked treasure among us. This perhaps may, in a great measure, be imputed to the scarcity of tracts, giving the necessary preparatory knowledge. Your plan of annexing to the most useful, important, and generally read parts of Euclid's Elements, a well compressed system of Conick Sections, seems well calculated to diffuse that preparatory knowledge, and to connect the Euclidean with the higher geometry. - From the prospectus, and specimens of your work I have seen, and from my confidence in your acknowledged mathematical information and talents, I have no doubt but your publication will answer this valuable purpose, be a useful acquisition both to preceptors and students in mathematicks, and receive from the publick a liberal patronage.


Dear Sir. - I have frequently regretted, that, of the many works on the Conick Sections, we have not any, which I deem sufficiently simple and concise for the present state of education in our American corteges. Most of the modern writers on this subject, instead of treating of the three different kinds of curves jointly, have done it separately, thereby rendering their works exceedingly prolix and tedious I highly approve of your system, because it presents, concisely, and at one view, the corresponding properties of the different sections, and possesses all the purity of the synthetick method of the ancients. Your combining with them, elements of Plain and Spherical Trigonometry, with the mathematical principles of Astronomy, will, I have no doubt, tend very much to diffuse mathematical science.

I purpose to make use of your work, as a text book, in teaching the Mathematicks, and to recommend it to my friends and former pupils, who arc professors and principals of literary institutions in the southern states.

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