ABSTRACT
Having succeeded with the isochrone , Professor Jacob Bernoulli proposed a new problem in Acta Eruditorum , asking his readers to fi nd the equation of the catenary curve-the curve traced by a fl exible chain that is suspended from both ends and allowed to simply hang between those points. Today we see the catenary in the curve of the giant cables that support a suspension bridge. Galileo (15641642), who had studied that curve, incorrectly guessed that it was probably a parabola . Galileo was unable to calculate the equation of that curve because it can be done only with the use of the calculus , which had not yet been discovered in Galileo’s time. When Jacob proposed the problem, he also had not yet found the equation of the catenary curve, but he still assumed, like Galileo, that it must be some kind of parabola.
