Introduction

In this introduction I present the contextual elements that may be useful to the reader in framing the work of Chasles that is expounded in the following chapters. Therefore, after an explanation of the purposes of this work, I will offer the state of the art with respect to the literature on Chasles. Since he was profoundly influenced by the milieu of the École Polytechnique, where he was student, in the second section the main aspects concerning the history of this institution until 1816 will be dealt with. Chasles contributed to the development of geometry, and in his years as a student and as a young researcher geometry was developing quickly thanks to the introduction of entire new branches and to deep changes in those existing. Therefore, in the fourth section a summary of the most important investigations in the period 1800–1825 is proposed. The Introduction is closed by a hint to Chasles’ life.