Conics Books I-III

by Apollonius of Perga, William H. Donahue

A completely new edition of Taliaferro?s translation of the first three books of Apollonius?s Conics with all new diagrams. It is the only English translation of these books other than Heath?s out-of-print version which is a modernized retelling rather than a true translation. This 3rd Century BCE work displays astonishing virtuosity in the treatment of conic sections in the classical synthetic geometrical manner. It is the culmination of Greek geometry and, in turn, provided a basis for the work of modern mathematicians and scientists such as Vieta, Descartes, Kepler, and Newton. Includes many corrections to the old edition?s text, translation, and notes, all new diagrams, an index, a bibliography, and an introductory essay by Harvey Flaumenhaft. Design and layout make it easy to read and work with, with diagrams repeated on every spread, adequate space for notes, and high quality paper to prevent show-through.

Genres: Mathematics, Science, Classics, Greece, Nonfiction, School

322 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 201

About the author

born circa 240 BC
died circa 190 BC

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollon...

Reviews

[Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apollonius was more interesting than Euclid. Conics was such a new and yet familiar concept that is so rich in content. Learning curves geometrically in this way was quite interesting. I'm looking forward to reading Newton and Leibniz to see how Mathematics evolves throughout history. My favorite section was the Asymptotes. When I learned it in school I never really had a good grasp of what it was. I feel my understanding is a little better after reading this.

[Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Among the most beautiful books I've ever read.

[Arkar Kyaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

"If anyone thinks that the obscurity of this presentation arises from the perplexity of my mind, ... I urge any such person to read the Conics of Apollonius. He will see that there are some matters which no mind, however gifted, can present in such a way as to be understood in a cursory reading. There is need of meditation, and a close thinking through of what is said."

- Johannes Kepler, Astronomia Nova

[Greg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, this is some minor hypocrisy after my Euclid review.
I see no reason to read this book, except to breathe a huge sigh of relief upon moving forward to Leibniz and Newton's approach(es?) to nonrectilinear figures.
I'm sure this book is dandy for some people, but I really did not feel like I'd grown much intellectually for "finishing" it.

[Blakely · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful ratios whose logic is clear but whose meaning (for me) never was.

[Tasshin Fogleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did most of Book I and parts of II and III.

[Trey Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Almost as good as Euclid.