ABSTRACT
At that time, the esteemed professor of mathematics at Groningen proposed a problem from his university offi ce to be printed in Acta Eruditorum . Johann called his problem the brachistochrone from the Greek brachistos meaning shortest and chrone meaning time. e problem called for the discovery of the equation of the curve of quickest descent under the infl uence of gravity between two given points, one higher than the other and not on the same vertical line. It would be the path that a lazy hawk, wishing to coast as quickly as possible from one point at the top of a tree to a lower point on a nearby tree would fl y on. Although Johann gave his readers until the end of 1696 as the deadline for entries, by the time the deadline arrived, only one correct solution-from Leibniz —had been submitted besides Johann ’s own.
