Christiani Hugenii ...Theoremata De Quadratura Hyperboles, Ellipsis Et Circuli, Ex Dato Portionum Gravitatis Centro

I approached this with no rashness to diminish the authority of a serious and learned man, but led by the goodness of the cause, I thought that what I had discovered could be proposed freely and without offense. I did so with even greater confidence after he himself, through letters—of which there is some exchange between us—candidly acted as author and encourager, so that I might share with everyone whatever I had meditated upon. I received this remarkable ingenuousness with a willing and grateful spirit, as it deserves, and I hope that through modest criticism I have declared enough how much I value being held as a friend by such a learned man. In turn, the supreme kindness with which he has received me until now makes me expect nothing else but that he will either respond to my points moderately and without any bitterness, if he thinks something should be replied to them, or, persuaded by the most evident reasons, will be just as willing to feel and embrace the truer conclusions through our work as through another’s hereafter.

CHRI-