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Summary
Euclidean geometry is a mathematical system attributed to the Greek mathematician Euclid of...
Content
Euclidean geometry is a mathematical system attributed to the Greek mathematician Euclid of Alexandria. Euclid's Elements is the earliest known systematic discussion of geometry. It has been one of the most influential books in history, as much for its method as for its mathematical content. The method consists of assuming a small set of intuitively appealing axioms, and then proving many other propositions (theorems) from those axioms.
Although many of Euclid's results had been stated by earlier mathematicians, Euclid was the first to show how these propositions could be fit together into a comprehensive deductive and logical system. The Elements begin with plane geometry, still taught in secondary school as the first axiomatic system and the first examples of formal proof. It goes on to the solid geometry of three dimensions. Much of the Elements states results of what are now called algebra and number theory, couched in geometrical language.
For over two thousand years, the adjective "Euclidean" was unnecessary because no other sort of geometry had been conceived. Euclid's axioms seemed so intuitively obvious that any theorem proved from them was deemed true in an absolute
Created by:
Freebase Data Team
Oct 22, 2006
Last edited by:
Freebase Data Team
Oct 22, 2006
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