Jessica Kootz

Ellsworth High School

11/22/02

Calculus

Euclid

Euclid or Euclid of Alexandria as we was often called was born around 325 BC. No one is quite sure of the fact of his life, but more of his work. One solid fact about his life is that he taught at the Museum and Library at Alexandria in Egypt and also wrote there.

Euclid is most famous for writing The Elements. The Elements is based on studies of geometry and the number theory. The Elements has been translated and circulated abroad. The only other book that compares to this is the Bible.

The Elements was written almost 2,300 years ago. The earliest copy dates back to 888 AD. The book is made up of only theorems and their proofs with thirteen books within The Elements.

Books I-VI discusses plane geometry. Books VII-IX are about the theory of numbers. Book X explains incommensurables while Books XI-XIII discuss solid geometry. In all books expect to see definitions, theorems, and axioms or postulates.

In order for Euclid to write this book, he took the bits and pieces other mathematicians had written and compiled them with some of his own findings into one book. Everything we learn in school about lines, points, general shapes, and angles can be found in Euclid’s The Elements.

Also discussed in The Elements was the number theory. Euclid came up with a solution for prime numbers: "A prime number can be evenly divided only by itself and by one." He also devised a plan for "perfect" numbers. He stated that "A perfect number equals the sum of its factors, which are the numbers that divide it without remainder, plus one."

Euclid set the pace for European and American mathematics. With his book, The Elements, he designed a pattern for mathematical problems. The pattern goes like this: first you state your postulate or what you think to be true. Next you show that something else must follow is your first statement is true. Basically it can be compared to going from A to B to C.

Euclid also wrote other works, and five have survived. Data is about the properties of figures and what can be deduced when other properties are given. It is also a companion book for the first six books of The Elements. Division of Figures discusses the division of plane configurations. Phaenomena talks about spherical geometry. Lastly, Optics discusses perspective. This includes optics, catoptrics, and dioptrics.

Since no one knows for sure when Euclid was born it can also be deduced that most are unsure of when he died. Many think Euclid died around 265 BC in Alexandria, Egypt.

Without Euclid, we may have never figured out the theorems and postulate for shapes, lines, points, and angles. But because of him, our world of mathematics has come along way. One man, Pappus, thought Euclid was "…most fair and well disposed towards all who were able in any measure to advance mathematics, careful in no way to give offence, and although an exact scholar not vaunting himself."

Works Cited

Home Page. 12 Oct. 2002 <http://www.math.tamu.edu/~dallen/history/euclid/euclid.html>.

O'Connor, J. J., and E. F. Robertson. Home Page. 12 Oct. 2002 <http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Euclid.html>.

Rogers, James T. The Story of Mathematics for Young People. New York, Pantheon Books. 1966.