Dividing the circle

Abstract

There are known constructions for some regular polygons, usually inscribed in a circle, but not for all polygons - the Gauss-Wantzel Theorem states precisely which ones can be constructed. The constructions differ greatly from one polygon to the other. There are, however, general processes for determining the side of the $n$-gon (approximately, but sometimes with great precision), which we describe in this paper. We present a joint mathematical analysis of the so-called Bion and Tempier approximation methods, comparing the errors and trying to explain why these constructions would work at all.