Plane curves offer a rich and to some extent unexplored field of study which may be approached from a quite elementary level. Anyone who can draw a circle with a given centre and a given radius can draw a cardioid or a limaçon. Anyone who can use a set square can draw a parabola or a strophoid. Anyone who knows a few of the simpler propositions of Euclid can deduce a number of properties of these beautiful and fascinating curves.

In school they may be used to instruct and entertain classes at all levels. In a class of mixed ability some will pursue the theory while others continue with the drawing.

Teachers may use the book in a variety of ways, but it has been written also for the individual reader. It is hoped that it will find a place in school libraries, and will be used too by sixth–form pupils, whether on the arts or the science side, who have time for some leisurely work off the line of their main studies, time perhaps to recapture some of the delight in mathematics for its own sake that nowadays so rarely survives the pressure of examination syllabuses and the demands of science and industry.

The approach is by pure geometry, starting in each case with methods of drawing the curve. In this way an appreciation of the shape of the curve is acquired and a foundation laid for a simple geometrical treatment.