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Algebraic Versus Transcendental Objects
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Catenary and exponential functionsAny nonelastic, uniform cable held at its ends will droop in the shape of a catenary. As shown here, the catenary is asymptotic in the negative and positive directions to graphs of, respectively, exponential decay (y = e−x/2) and exponential growth (y = ex/2).
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Algebraic Versus Transcendental Objects

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Written by
John Colin Stillwell
Professor of Mathematics, University of San Francisco, California. Author of Mathematics and Its History.
John Colin Stillwell
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One important difference between the differential calculus of Pierre de Fermat and René Descartes and the full calculus of Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz is the difference between algebraic and transcendental objects. The rules of differential calculus are complete in the world of algebraic curves—those defined by equations of the form p(x, y) = 0, where p is a polynomial. (For example, the most basic parabola is given by the polynomial equation y = x2.) In his Geometry of 1637, Descartes called these curves “geometric,” because they “admit of precise and exact measurement.” He contrasted them with “mechanical” curves ...(100 of 567 words)

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