Mathematician — Euclid (active in Alexandria, Egypt around 300 BC) was a Greek mathematician about whose life very little is known. He worked in Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy I and is regarded as the father of geometry. His principal work, the Elements, gathers and organises Greek mathematical knowledge in a systematic and rigorous way, starting from a few axioms and postulates, with deductive proofs. Although it is a work of mathematics, its axiomatic-deductive method served for over two millennia as the model of rigour for all of science, physics included. Euclidean geometry describes the flat space of classical physics, while overcoming the fifth postulate opened the way to the non-Euclidean geometries used in relativity.
Curiosity
It is said that when King Ptolemy asked him whether there was not a shorter way to learn geometry, Euclid replied that «there is no royal road to mathematics».
Theories and contributions
- Euclidean geometry — Axiomatic system of flat space founded on five postulates, including that of the parallels; describes the space of classical physics.
- Axiomatic-deductive method — Construction of knowledge starting from axioms and postulates by means of rigorous proofs, a reference model for all of science.
Present in chapters
Linked atoms
1 linked atom.