The invention of intrinsic differential geometry is usually attributed to Gauss in the context of his *theorema egregium* but the notion of the curvature of an embedded surface existed before. Who was the first to discover that the curvature of an embedded surface is the product of the principal curvatures?


In <http://arxiv.org/abs/1409.4736> the author states: "In 1763, Euler started
a thorough study of curvature of embedded surfaces. In 1767, he found an
expression of the curvature in terms of the product of principal curvatures."


This seems to suggest that the curvature Euler is talking about is what is known today as Gaussian curvature, the latter being the product of principal curvatures. However, this comment in 1409.4736 seems to be based on a different comment in the 2008 encyclopedia of scientific biography at <http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Johann_Tobias_Mayer.aspx#1-1G2:2830901353-full> which states:


"In 1763 Euler made the first substantial advance in the study of the curvature of surfaces; in particular, he expressed the curvature of an arbitrary normal section by principal curvatures (1767)."


This of course does not imply any relation to Gaussian curvature and on the contrary suggests that Euler only dealt with curvatures of curves obtained as cross-sections of the embedded surface. However, it is possible that 1409.4736 has a different source for this claim.


The relevant paper by Euler is apparently <http://eulerarchive.maa.org/docs/originals/E333.pdf> where on page 143 Euler discusses the two radii of curvature.



Who was the first to discover that the curvature of an embedded surface is the product of the principal curvatures?
Let me start with your first quotation:


"In 1763, Euler started a thorough study of curvature of embedded surfaces. In 1767, he found an expression of the curvature in terms of the product of principal curvatures."


Karin Reich's article in *Leonhard Euler: Life, Work and Legacy* (p. 482 in particular) explains what this is supposed to mean. As you know,
Euler attacked the curvature of surfaces at some point P in terms of the curvatures of curves cut out by planes normal to the tangent plane at P. He found that the planes for which the maximal and minimal curvature occurs 
are orthogonal to each other, and then he developed a formula for the curvature of the curve cut out by any plane normal to the tangent plane in terms of the
maximal and minimal curvature and the angle $\phi$ between the plane and the principal section. So "the curvature" here is definitely not Gauss's curvature.


The remark about the years 1763 and 1767 is even "curiouser": Euler presented his article E333 in 1763 to the Berlin Academy and it was published in 1767. So we are dealing with one and the same paper here.


