Handbook of Computer Aided Geometric Design

Chapter 1

A History of Curves and Surfaces in CAGD

Gerald Farin

This article provides a historical account of the major developments in the area of curves and surfaces as they entered the area of CAGD - Computer Aided Geometric Design - until the middle 1980s. We adopt the definition that CAGD deals with the construction and representation of free-form curves, surfaces, or volumes.

1.1 INTRODUCTION

The term CAGD was coined by R. Barnhill and R. Riesenfeld in 1974 when they organized a conference on that topic at the University of Utah. That conference brought together researchers from the U.S. and from Europe and may be regarded as the founding event of the field. It resulted in the widely influential proceedings [8]. The first textbook, ...