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Euclid and Thales: Founders of Geometry

Euclid was a Greek mathematician from Alexandria active in the 3rd century BC who is known as the "Father of Geometry", and wrote the influential textbook Elements, which was used to teach mathematics for over 2000 years by deducing principles from a small set of axioms. Thales of Miletus was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher considered the first philosopher in the Greek tradition who attempted to explain natural phenomena without mythology and was influential in this respect, and also used geometry to solve problems and is considered the first true mathematician. Both Euclid and Thales made significant contributions to early mathematics and the development of deductive reasoning.

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59 views1 page

Euclid and Thales: Founders of Geometry

Euclid was a Greek mathematician from Alexandria active in the 3rd century BC who is known as the "Father of Geometry", and wrote the influential textbook Elements, which was used to teach mathematics for over 2000 years by deducing principles from a small set of axioms. Thales of Miletus was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher considered the first philosopher in the Greek tradition who attempted to explain natural phenomena without mythology and was influential in this respect, and also used geometry to solve problems and is considered the first true mathematician. Both Euclid and Thales made significant contributions to early mathematics and the development of deductive reasoning.

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rockeygreat
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Euclid (/jukld/ EWK-lid; Ancient Greek: Eukleids), fl.

. 300 BC, also known as Euclid of Alexandria, was a Greek mathematician, often referred to as the "Father of Geometry". He was active in Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy I (323283 BC). HisElements is one of the most influential works in the history of mathematics, serving as the main textbook for teaching mathematics (especially geometry) from the time of its publication until the late 19th or early 20th century.[1][2][3] In the Elements, Euclid deduced the principles of what is now called Euclidean geometry from a small set of axioms. Euclid also wrote works on perspective, conic sections, spherical geometry, number theory andrigor. Thales of Miletus (/eliz/; Greek: ( ), Thals; c. 624 BC c. 546 BC) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher from Miletus in Asia Minor, and one of theSeven Sages of Greece. Many, most notably Aristotle, regard him as the first philosopher in the Greek tradition. [1] According to Bertrand Russell, "Western philosophy begins with Thales."[2] Thales attempted to explain natural phenomena without reference to mythologyand was tremendously influential in this respect. Almost all of the other Pre-Socraticphilosophers follow him in attempting to provide an explanation of ultimate substance, change, and the existence of the worldwithout reference to mythology. Those philosophers were also influential, and eventually Thales' rejection of mythological explanations became an essential idea for the scientific revolution. He was also the first to define general principles and set forth hypotheses, and as a result has been dubbed the "Father of Science", though it is argued that Democritus is actually more deserving of this title.[3][4] In mathematics, Thales used geometry to solve problems such as calculating the height of pyramids and the distance of ships from the shore. He is credited with the first use of deductive reasoning applied to geometry, by deriving four corollaries to Thales' Theorem. As a result, he has been hailed as the first true mathematician and is the first known individual to whom a mathematical discovery has been attributed.[5]

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