Regarded as one of the fathers of modern projective geometry, Jean-Victor Poncelet's development of the concept of poles and polar lines, in the context of conics, was the forerunner of the principle of duality. His development of distinctions between projective and metric properties served as a foundation for modern structural concepts.

Poncelet was born in July 1, 1788, in Metz, Lorraine, France, to Claude Poncelet, a wealthy landowner and advocate at the Parliament of Metz, and Anne-Marie Perrein. While he was Claude Poncelet's natural son, he was not legitimized as such until later in life. Poncelet's earliest studies took place in the small town of Saint-Avold, where he lived with a family to which he had been entrusted. Poncelet returned to Metz in 1804 and continued his studies at the city's lycée (the equivalent of elementary school). A highly successful student, he entered Metz's École Polytechnique in the...