Lemniscatus

The Lemniscate was first founded in 1694 by Jakob Bernoulli, a Swiss mathematician at
the age of 40. It was later discovered that the Lemniscate curve was actually a special case of a
Cassini oval, in which the lines intersect in the midpoint of two foci (focal points). Some general
properties of the curve were discovered by Giovanni Francesco Fagnano dei Toschi (1715-1797)
in 1750. The lemniscate can be used in elliptic functions as well, thanks to Leonhard Euler
(1751).
Bernoulli wrote about the Lemniscate in an article Acta Eruditorumon published in 1694.
He named the curve after the Latin term, Lemniscatus, for pendant ribbon or decorated with
ribbons. At the time that Bernoulli wrote his article, he was unaware of the fact that the curve he
was describing was a special type of the Cassini oval, described and explained by Cassini in
1680. Below is a figure showing Cassini ovals and a special case Lemniscate curve.

Figure 1. Cassini Ovals

All curves above are considered to be Cassini ovals. The purple curve is a special type of
Cassini curve, called the Lemniscate, where a=1 in the sample equation:
((x a)2 + y2) ((x + a)2 + y2) = b4

Fagnano Giovanni discovered most principles on the Lemniscate, like the equations we
have today:

Figure 2. Cartesian Equation

A Cartesian equation for the Lemniscate curve.

Figure 3. A Toric Section of a Torus

Another sample equation for the Lemniscate curve.

It is quite possible that Fagnano could have submitted his discoveries in an article Nova
acta eruditorum because some of his publications appear in it. Although his explanations were
great, he would not achieve the international standing of his father, Giulio Fagnano, who was
appointed gonfaloniere (Standard Bearer) in 1723, and left a strong mark in mathematics.

Leonhard Euler was one of the main contributions to exploring the elliptical uses of the
Lemniscate curve. He discovered that if you draw the rectangular hyperbola, the Lemniscate of
Bernoulli is the pedal curve of the graph. Below is a method of tracing the Lemniscate curve
using elliptical lines.

Figure 4. Rectangular Hyperbola

A way of tracing the Lemniscate of Bernoulli using a rectangular hyperbola.

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