Tractatus de configurationibus qualitatum et motuum

The Tractatus de configurationibus qualitatum et motuum (Treatise on the Configurations of Qualities and Motions) is a significant work by Nicholas Oresme from the 14th century. In this treatise, Oresme pioneered the use of graphical representations to analyze and distinguish between uniform and non-uniform distributions of quantities. He employed a system of rectangular coordinates, similar to modern analytic geometry, to depict these distributions, even extending his methods to three-dimensional figures.

Oresme's work laid foundational concepts that later influenced the development of analytic geometry. He also provided the first graphical proof of the Merton theorem, which describes the distance traveled by a body under uniform acceleration. His graphical methods for representing velocities were influential in the study of kinematics and impacted later scientists like Galileo.12