The Surveying of Dido: Cutting the Bovine Space
Abstract
The abstract mathematical problem of finding the maximum area with a fixed perimeter is the founding problem of the Calculus of Variations. It is known as “the problem of Dido”, who is regarded as a mythical initiator of the discipline. This contribution constitutes the keynote address for the Conference on the Calculus of Variations held in Carthage in May 2022, and reconstitutes the fundamental elements of the stories on the foundation of Carthage by a Phoenician princess exiled from Tyre, imagined as unfortunate as cunning. For this occasion, the Author try to place on its own soil the story of ox skin cut into thin strips by the protagonist, in order to take full advantage of the agreement signed with the natives.
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Crédits des images :
Fig. 1 :
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Didon,_Tomyris,_Semiramis,_and_Zenobie,_from_%27The_game_of_queens%27_(Le_jeu_des_Reines_renomm%C3%A9es)_MET_DP833198.jpg
Fig. 2 :
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pierre-Narcisse_Gu%C3%A9rin_-_Dido_and_Aeneas_-_WGA10972.jpg
Fig. 3 :
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Fig. 4 :
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Turner_Dido_Building_Carthage.jpg.
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