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"Universal equation solver " - that was the name given to this clever device in the
Encyclopedie of Diderot, which was published in Paris in 1751.
The exhibit, created from the original drawing
(patent 1133-37604123-A, registered 10/10/1993) allows the user to graph
any 3rd degree polynomial, and, by doing so, to find the approximate solution
of any algebraic equation with real coefficients of a degree not higher than 3.
With the the same building principle is possible to construct the fixature
n,
a device to graph any polynomial with degree
n.
From the mathematical point of view
,
the way the machine works
is simple, cleverly exploiting the similarity of proper right-angled triangles.
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