The true rule for squaring any portion of a circle
Curvilinear triangles cut into sectors, spread, and rebuilt into a square
Leonardo works out the quadrature of a circular segment (a portion smaller than a semicircle), illustrated by a dense right-margin file of small figures — a double curvilinear triangle, a triangle split into three and then into twenty-four sectors, sawtooth decompositions, and a radial fan. The main column gives a step-by-step recipe: lend the triangle a b c to the portion b c d, divide it into sectors, spread their vertices apart, lend an equal set of sectors to form the quadrilateral n m o p, then remove half and the extra triangle to leave the squared portion. Its curved side is straightened by motion over the line e d f. He calls this the sole and true rule for squaring every portion of a circle less than the semicircle.
On this page
Dividing a circular segment into sectors
Squaring irregular portions of varying curvature requires that, once divided into sectors of unequal length, they be rectified. The margin shows the segment as a curvilinear triangle carried through triple and 24-fold sector divisions (labels a-b c, d-e f, g-h i).
Lending sectors to build the quadrilateral n m o p
Lend the triangle a b c to the portion b c d and divide it into sectors, as the second figure g i h k shows; separate the sector vertices so the gaps equal the flattened bases, then lend an equal amount to the third figure r S t v to make the quadrilateral n m o p. The four-figure column at right stages this construction.
The sole and true rule for squaring a circular portion
From the quadrilateral, remove half (the lent sectors) and then as much as equals triangle a b c, leaving the squared portion b c d, whose curved side was straightened by motion over the straight line e d f. This, he asserts, is the only true rule for squaring any portion of a circle smaller than the semicircle, valid only through lending and the described motion.
