Semiotic potential of a tractional machine: a first analysis

Abstract

Tractional motion is an almost forgotten theory involving machines to geometrically solve inverse tangent problems. It was at the basis of Leibniz’s development of calculus and interested many important mathematicians (e.g. Euler) mainly in the 17th and 18th centuries, before its disappearance because of the decrease of importance of geometric constructions. In this work, we analyse the exploration of a tractional motion machine using the framework of Theory of Semiotic Mediation. This is just a very first work in the perspective of introducing this kind of machine to students in order to mediate the meanings of transcendental curves and infinitesimal analysis.