EUCLID: The Man Who Created a Math Class Euclid of Alexandria was born in about 325 BC. He is the most prominent mathematician of antiquity best known for his dissertation on mathematics. He was able to create “The Elements” which included the composition of many other famous mathematicians together. He began exploring math because he felt that he needed to compile certain things and fix certain postulates and theorems. His book included, many of Eudoxus’ theorems, he perfected many of Theaetetus’s theorems also. Much of Euclid’s background is very vague and unknown.
It is unreliable to say whether some things about him are true, there are two types of extra information stated that scientists do not know whether they are true or not. The first one is that given by Arabian authors who state that Euclid was the son of Naucratis and that he was born in Tyre. This is believed by historians of mathematics that this is entirely fictitious and was merely invented by the authors. The next type of information is that Euclid was born at Megara. But this is not the same Euclid that authors thought. In fact, there was a Euclid of Megara, who was a philosopher who lived approximately 100 years before Euclid of Alexandria.
Euclid was the leader of a team of mathematicians working at Alexandria. They all contributed to writing the ‘complete works of Euclid’, even continuing to write books under Euclid’s name after his death. He was not an historical character. A team of mathematicians at Alexandria who took the name Euclid from the historical character Euclid of Megara who had lived about 100 years earlier wrote the ‘complete works of Euclid’. There is a thought that he was able to build up a school in Alexandria that was very vigorous and unique in its own way. Euclid’s most famous work is his dissertation on mathematics The Elements.
The Essay on Euclid Alexandria One Geometry
Euclid of Alexandria is thought to have lived from about 325 BC until 265 BC in Alexandria, Egypt. There is very little known about his life. It was thought he was born in Megara, which was proven to be incorrect. There is in fact a Euclid of Megara, but he was a philosopher who lived 100 years before Euclid of Alexandria. Also people say that Euclid of Alexandria is the son of Naucratis, but ...
The book was a compilation of knowledge that became the center of mathematical teaching for 2000 years. Probably Euclid first proved no results in The Elements but the organization of the material and its exposition are certainly due to him. In fact there is ample evidence that Euclid is using earlier textbooks as he writes the Elements since he introduces quite a number of definitions, which are never used such as that of an oblong, a rhombus, and a rhomboid. This book first began the book by giving the definition of five postulates. The first three are based upon constructions. For example, the first one is that a straight line can be drawn between two points.
These three postulates also describe lines, circles, and the existence of points and the possible existence of other geometric objects. The fourth and fifth postulates are written in a different nature. Postulate four states that all right angles are equal. The fifth one is very famous. It is also can be referred to as the parallel, the fifth parallel. It states that one and only one line can be drawn through a point parallel to a given line.
His decision to create this postulate enabled him to create what is now called, Euclidean Geometry, taking name after him. Not until the 19 th century, was this postulate dropped and non-euclidean geometries were beginning to be studied. Euclid’s elements are divided into 13 books. The first six books are based upon just plane geometry. They give out properties of triangles, parallelograms, parallels, rectangles and squares.
They also deal with problems with circles, and circles in general. Books seven through nine explain the number theory. In particular book seven is a self-contained introduction to number theory and contains the Euclidean algorithm for finding the greatest common divisor of two numbers. Book eight talks about geometrical progressions. The tenth book explains the theory of irrational numbers. It is mainly based upon the work of Theaetetus.
The Essay on The Influence of Movies vs. Books
Books and movies both have equal importance for the man of 21st century. As the technology develops so are the needs of man. Every one’s life has become quite fast and busy. Books and movies provide you the best way to escape and relax yourself from busy schedule. Great revolution has occurred in both books and movies with the passage of time. Firstly if we talk about movies, they have great ...
Euclid had to change many of the proofs written by Eudoxus. From book eleven through thirteen, describes the geometries of three-dimensional shapes. More than one thousand editions of this book have been printed since its first edition in 1482. Euclid also wrote many other books. Data, On Divisions, Optics, and Phenomena are all other books that have survived. The ones that have been lost are Surface Loci, Prisms, Conics, Fallacies and Elements of Music.
Euclid has enabled us today, the ability to create and learn more about geometry. He created the opportunity to explore math to a different extent. He was able to create and fix many postulates and theorems. If I had the opportunity to ask Euclid a question, I would ask him how he was able to think about all this things and compile them into a book in so little time. Many math classes have revolved around the geometry that Euclid was able to develop. Such as the class I am in right now, geometry.
Euclid may not have been a first class mathematician but the long lasting nature of The Elements must make him the leading mathematics teacher of the distant past or perhaps of all time. In my opinion, I think that without Euclid, much of math would not exist today. To me, Euclid is one of the most prominent mathematicians that have ever lived.
