Euclid
From the Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can change
Euclid of Alexandria (Greek: Εὐκλείδης) (about 325 BC–265 BC) was a Greek mathematician who lived in Alexandria, Egypt. Little is known about this person, but people think he lived there when Ptolemy I was the pharaoh.
Many people see Euclid as the father of geometry, which is an important part of mathematics. His most popular work is Elements. Many people see the book as history's most successful textbook, that is a book which teaches people. In the book, he starts out from a small set of axioms (that is, a group of things that everyone thinks are true). Euclid then shows the properties of geometric objects and of whole numbers, based on those axioms. He proves new higher ideas are true from these lower ideas. This is the same method as modern mathematics uses. It is called the axiomatic method.
Euclid also wrote works on perspective, conic sections, spherical geometry, and possibly quadric surfaces.
It is not known where or when he is born or why he died.
[change] Tributes to Euclid
Euclid is thought to be so important as a mathematician that scientists have honored him:
- A rock in the sky, or asteroid, is named after Euclid
- A hole or crater on the moon is named after Euclid
