The Thirteen Books of the Elements, Books 3 - 9

The Elements #2

by Euclid, Thomas Little Heath (Translator)

Volume 2 of 3-volume set containing complete English text of all 13 books of the Elements plus critical analysis of each definition, postulate, and proposition. Covers textual and linguistic matters; mathematical analyses of Euclid's ideas; classical, medieval, Renaissance and modern commentators; refutations, supports, extrapolations, reinterpretations and historical notes. Vol. 2 includes Books III-IX: Circles, relationships, rectilineal figures.

Genres: Mathematics, Science, Reference, Nonfiction, Classics, Geometry, Philosophy

464 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1956

About the author

Euclid (Ancient Greek: Εὐκλείδης Eukleidēs -- "Good Glory", ca. 365-275 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 (323–283 BC). His Stoicheia (Elements) is a 13-volume exploration all corners of mathematics, based on the works of, inter alia, Aristotle, Eudoxus of Cnidus, Plato, Pythagoras. It is one of the most influential works in the history of mathematics, presenting the mathematical theorems and problems with great clarity, and showing their solutions concisely and logically. Thus, it came to serve as the main textbook for teaching mathematics (especially geometry) from the time of its publication until the late 19th or early 20th century. 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 and rigor. He is sometimes credited with one original theory, a method of exhaustion through which the area of a circle and volume of a sphere can be calculated, but he left a much greater mark as a teacher.

Reviews

[Blakely · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 5, for reasons I don't fully understand, makes me very happy. Ratios!

[Aleksandar Janjic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Не знам откуд ово, ова књига нема 464 стране него 430 или тако нешто. У сваком случају, важи слично као за први том, па да се не понављам. С тим да овде доминирају некакве пропорције и слична чудеса, што је углавном нешто мање занимљиво од троуглова и сл.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is definitely worth reading again. The logic is truly beautiful. Admittedly, I've spent five years of my life teaching mathematics, but there were several fairly important principles of both number theory and proportional geometry that I was not aware of. I definitely recommend it to anyone with an interest in mathematics or classical education.

[Trey Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I struggled more with these books on ratios and numbers, but it’s incredible how much Euclid proved about numbers without ever using one.