Who was Euclid?
Euclid
Euclid of Alexandria (19th Century)
Greek mathematician Euclid lived in Alexandria, Egypt around 300 BCE, it is thought he attended Plato’s academy in Athens before moving here. Euclid is often referred to as the “Father of Geometry” and wrote possibly the most important and successful mathematical textbook in history, known as the “Elements” - a comprehensive compilation and explanation of all the known mathematics of his time and the earliest known discussion of geometry, the branch of mathematics relating to the study of space and the relationships between points, lines, curves and surfaces.
The thirteen volumes of Euclid’s “Elements” contains 465 formulas and proofs, described in a clear, logical style using only a compass and a straight edge, it contains formulas for calculating the volumes of solids such as cones, pyramids and cylinders. The books discuss perfect numbers and primes; proof and generalization of Pythagoras’ Theorem, Euclid proved that the diagonals of the regular pentagon cut each other in "extreme and mean ratio", which is now more commonly known as the golden ratio or golden section.
Euclidean geometry is still as valid today as it was 2,300 years ago, it is widely used in many disciplines, including art, architecture, science and engineering, to name but a few.
References
Cambridge University, P. (1999) 'Cambridge dictionaries online'. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Euclid of Alexandria, 19th Century (engraving), Cook, J.W., Private Collection, Bridgeman Images.
Mastin, L. (2010) The story of mathematics. Available at: http://www.storyofmathematics.com/hellenistic_euclid.html (Accessed: 29/02/18).
O'Connor, J. and Robertson, E. (July 2001 ) The Golden ratio. Available at: http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/HistTopics/Golden_ratio.html (Accessed: 08/03/18).
Golden Ratio (Golden Section)
Reference
The golden ratio. https://thesurprisespage.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/796801-explanation-of-the-golden-ratio-in-the-pentagram-five-pointed-star1.gif (Accessed 08/03/18)
The Books in the Philip Robinson Library General Collection
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The Thirteen Books of the Elements by Call Number: 510.938 EUCISBN: 0486600882Publication Date: 1956-06-01Vol 1, Books I & II -
The Thirteen Books of the Elements by Call Number: 510.938 EUCISBN: 0486600890Publication Date: 1956-06-01Vol 2, Books III-IX -
The Thirteen Books of the Elements by Call Number: 510.938 EUCISBN: 0486600904Publication Date: 1956-06-01Vol 3, Books X-XIII
Euclid's Elements
Euclid - The thirteen books of the Elements
Contents
Book I – Foundations of Plane Geometry
Book II – The Geometry of Rectangles
Book III – The Geometry of the Circle
Book IV – Regular Polygons in Circles
Book V – The General Theory of Magnitudes in Proportion
Book VI – The Plane Geometry of Similar Figures
Book VII – Basic Arithmetic
Book VIII – Numbers in Continued Proportion
Book IX - Numbers in Continued proportion; the Theory of Even and Odd Numbers, Perfect Numbers
Book X – Incommensurable Line Segments
Book XI – Foundations of Solid Geometry
Book XII – Areas and Volume; Eudoxus’s Method of Exhaustion
Book XIII – The Platonic Solids
Reference
Euclid (1956) The thirteen books of Elements. 2d ed. New York: Dover Publications.