Mathematical Opuscula on Oblique Forces, Pendulums, Vessels, and Rivers
- Creator
- Giovanni Ceva
- Date
- 1682
- Date added
- 27 September 2026 4.05 am
- Date modified
- 27 September 2026 4.40 am
Document notes
Original title: Opuscula mathematica de potentiis obliquis, de pendulis, de vasis et de fluminibus A Latin collection of four short mathematical treatises, printed at Milan by Lodovico Monti and dedicated to Cardinal Michelangelo Ricci. The first treatise covers oblique forces and statics: the composition and resolution of 'virtues' acting on a mobile body, the parallelogram rule, levers, pulleys, and a critique of the common steelyard. Each mechanical proof is followed by a geometrical or algebraic test ('periculum'). The second treatise, on pendulums, argues against Galileo's pendulum law and derives the equality of the angles of incidence and reflection from an inertial supposition. The third, on waters and first on vessels, demonstrates the laws of efflux from vessels and reports an ink-staining experiment on a draining cask, directed against Baliani and de Chales. The fourth, on rivers, treats the flow and force of rivers and proposes a pendulum-and-square instrument for measuring river velocity and discharge. A geometrical appendix on the section of the ring solid and on radial indivisibles, extending Cavalieri's method, follows the four treatises, along with engraved plates and a closing note apologizing for errata. 👉 Read our introductory primer, full report, and finding guide here 📜 View the original source file This text was transcribed and translated as part of the ExLatinis project—an effort by Leo to make English translations of every published text in Latin in early modern Europe (between 1450 and 1750) available to the public for free online.
Document excerpt
Early European Books, Copyright 2011 ProQuest LLC. Images reproduced by courtesy of the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze. CFMAGL 1.7.139