Search Loci: Convergence: One merit of mathematics few will
deny: it says more in fewer words than any other science. The
formula, e^(i*pi) = -1 expressed a world of thought, of truth,
of poetry, and of the religious spirit "God eternally
geometrizes." In N. Rose, Mathematical Maxims and Minims,
Raleigh NC: Rome Press Inc., 1988. Francois-Joseph Servois:
Priest, Artillery Officer, and Professor of Mathematics While at
Metz, Servois began publishing and presenting his mathematical
research. His first paper, written in 1805, was a treatise on
expanding functions into power series. This paper was presented
to the Institut National des Sciences et des Arts* and would
undergo several revisions to become his celebrated “Essay”
[Servois 1814a] on the foundations of the differential calculus.
(The next section describes this paper in more detail.) Figure
3. Figures from Servois' geometry text (public domain). The
left-hand figure was used to construct a parallel to an
inaccessible line. The right-hand figure was used