We encounter ellipse everywhere around us. It is enough to lean a cylindrical glass of water to see an ellipse, shaped on the surface. With cross section of a plastic bottle we form an ellipse on the bottle's surface. The other way to show/ illustrate an ellipse is to shine a flashlight at a straight wall under a suitable angle. All of this makes us realize that ellipse is a curve that we encounter every day but are unaware of its existence. In astronomy, an ellipse as orbit of planets, has a key role. And there is an increased use of ellipse and elliptic shapes in architecture and interior design.
In my diploma thesis I write about ellipse from its start as an accidentally discovered curve while solving a famous mathematical problem – doubling the cube. I then pointed out some of the ellipses most important properties through Apollonius of Perga, Kepler, Lissajous, Cassini and other famous and respected geometers, philosophers and astronomers. What is interesting is that although ellipse is obtained from a cone as well as from a cylinder, it is called a conic.
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