Overview

From the introductory chapter, 'Early Geometry.' The oldest traces of geometry are found among the early Egyptians and Babylonians. Their knowledge was, however, empirical and made simply to serve practical purposes. Many of their rules were simple approximations; the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter was known to be a little greater than 3, but in practical measurements the circumference was taken to be three times the diameter. A recent discovery of the papyrus written by Ahmes perhaps as early as 2000 B.C, gives us the earliest knowledge that we have of Egyptian geometry. There is no attempt in the writings of Ahmes at a science of the subject; there are no theorems or even general lines of procedure - the subject consists of a few special rules discovered by experimenting and induction. Neither were all the rules accurate; for example, the area of an isosceles triangle was found by taking half the product of the base by one of the equal sides. The geometry of the Egyptians and Babylonians, such as it was, was sought after and studied by the philosophers of Greece, and by the Greeks finally worked into a science. Thales (640 B.C. to 548 B.C.) and his pupil Pythagoras traveled and studied in Egypt and gave a valuable contribution to the subject of geometry, the latter giving us the theorem known by his name; but it remained for Euclid, about 300 B.C, to give to the world the science of geometry. For clearness of thought, exactness of truths, and excellence of logic Euclid is a model. With but slight change it has been used as a textbook for twenty-two hundred years. In England to-day his work holds almost universal sway. Just how much of Euclid's work was his own and how much was compiled from former discoveries, is uncertain. It is known, however, that geometry did not come from the mind of Euclid almost as perfect as Minerva from the head of Jove, but that a great deal of his material was drawn from Thales, Pythagoras and his school, and from Eudoxus. What Euclid did was to systematize the known knowledge of geometry and from it to discover new; that is, he began with definite ideas and self-evident truths, and, through a process of deduction, established the truth of such theorems as were handed down to him, and discovered some new ones. Whether he gave us much that was new or not, for the work he did he deserves to be ranked with the world's great educators and philosophers. Geometry is the perfection of logic, Euclid is as classic as Homer... ..

Full Product Details

9781542561020

Table of Contents

Reviews

Author Information

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available