Geometry

Geometry is a branch of mathematics concerned with questions of shape, size, relative position of
figures, and the properties of space. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is called a
geometer. Geometry arose independently in a number of early cultures as a body of practical knowledge
concerning lengths, areas, and volumes, with elements of a formal mathematical science emerging in
the West as early as Thales (6th Century BC). By the 3rd century BC geometry was put into an axiomatic
form by Euclid, whose treatmentEuclidean geometryset a standard for many centuries to follow.[1]
Archimedes developed ingenious techniques for calculating areas and volumes, in many ways
anticipating modern integral calculus. The field of astronomy, especially mapping the positions of the
stars and planets on the celestial sphere and describing the relationship between movements of
celestial bodies, served as an important source of geometric problems during the next one and a half
millennia. Both geometry and astronomy were considered in the classical world to be part of the
Quadrivium, a subset of the seven liberal arts considered essential for a free citizen to master.
The introduction of coordinates by Ren Descartes and the concurrent developments of algebra marked
a new stage for geometry, since geometric figures, such as plane curves, could now be represented
analytically, i.e., with functions and equations. This played a key role in the emergence of infinitesimal
calculus in the 17th century. Furthermore, the theory of perspective showed that there is more to
geometry than just the metric properties of figures: perspective is the origin of projective geometry. The
subject of geometry was further enriched by the study of intrinsic structure of geometric objects that
originated with Euler and Gauss and led to the creation of topology and differential geometry.
In Euclid's time there was no clear distinction between physical space and geometrical space. Since the
19th-century discovery of non-Euclidean geometry, the concept of space has undergone a radical
transformation, and the question arose: which geometrical space best fits physical space? With the rise
of formal mathematics in the 20th century, also 'space' (and 'point', 'line', 'plane') lost its intuitive
contents, so today we have to distinguish between physical space, geometrical spaces (in which 'space',
'point' etc. still have their intuitive meaning) and abstract spaces. Contemporary geometry considers
manifolds, spaces that are considerably more abstract than the familiar Euclidean space, which they
only approximately resemble at small scales. These spaces may be endowed with additional structure,
allowing one to speak about length. Modern geometry has multiple strong bonds with physics,
exemplified by the ties between pseudo-Riemannian geometry and general relativity. One of the
youngest physical theories, string theory, is also very geometric in flavour.
While the visual nature of geometry makes it initially more accessible than other parts of mathematics,
such as algebra or number theory, geometric language is also used in contexts far removed from its
traditional, Euclidean provenance (for example, in fractal geometry and algebraic geometry).

Euclid : 300 BC, also known asEuclid 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. 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.
"Euclid" is the anglicized version of the Greek name, meaning "Good Glory".

History of geometry

Geometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one
of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers (arithmetic).
Classic geometry was focused in compass and straightedge constructions. Geometry was
revolutionized by Euclid, who introduced mathematical rigor and the axiomatic method still in
use today. His book, The Elements is widely considered the most influential textbook of all time,
and was known to all educated people in the West until the middle of the 20th century.
[1]

In modern times, geometric concepts have been generalized to a high level of abstraction and
complexity, and have been subjected to the methods of calculus and abstract algebra, so that
many modern branches of the field are barely recognizable as the descendants of early
geometry. (See areas of mathematics and algebraic

A Brief History of Geometry
Geometry began with a practical need to measure shapes. The word geometry means
to measure the earth and is the science of shape and size of things. It is believed that
geometry first became important when an Egyptian pharaoh wanted to tax farmers who
raised crops along the Nile River. To compute the correct amount of tax the pharaohs
agents had to be able to measure the amount of land being cultivated.
Around 2900 BC the first Egyptian pyramid was constructed. Knowledge of geometry
was essential for building pyramids, which consisted of a square base and triangular
faces. The earliest record of a formula for calculating the area of a triangle dates back to
2000 BC. The Egyptians (5000500 BC) and the Babylonians (4000500 BC)
developed practical geometry to solve everyday problems, but there is no evidence that
they logically deduced geometric facts from basic principles.
It was the early Greeks (600 BC400 AD) that developed the principles of modern
geometry beginning with Thales of Miletus (624547 BC). Thales is credited with
bringing the science of geometry from Egypt to Greece. Thales studied similar triangles
and wrote the proof that corresponding sides of similar triangles are in proportion.
The next great Greek geometer was Pythagoras (569475 BC). Pythagoras is regarded
as the first pure mathematician to logically deduce geometric facts from basic principles.
Pythagoras founded a brotherhood called the Pythagoreans, who pursued knowledge in
mathematics, science, and philosophy. Some people regard the Pythagorean School as
the birthplace of reason and logical thought. The most famous and useful contribution of
the Pythagoreans was the Pythagorean Theorem. The theory states that the sum of the
squares of the legs of a right triangle equals the square of the hypotenuse.
Euclid of Alexandria (325265 BC) was one of the greatest of all the Greek geometers
and is considered by many to be the father of modern geometry. Euclid is best known
for his 13-book treatise The Elements. The Elements is one of the most important works
in history and had a profound impact on the development of Western civilization.
Euclid began The Elements with just a few basics, 23 definitions, 5 postulates, and 5
common notions or general axioms. An axiom is a statement that is accepted as true.
From these basics, he proved his first proposition. Once proof was established for his
first proposition, it could then be used as part of the proof of a second proposition, then
a third, and on it went. This process is known as the axiomatic approach. Euclids
Elements form the basis of the modern geometry that is still taught in schools today.
Archimedes of Syracuse (287212 BC) is regarded as the greatest of the Greek
mathematicians and was also the inventor of many mechanical devices including the
screw, the pulley, and the lever. The Archimedean screw a device for raising water
from a low level to a higher one is an invention that is still in use today. Archimedes
works include his treatise Measurement of a Circle, which was an analysis of circular
area, and his masterpiece On the Sphere and the Cylinder in which he determined the
volumes and surface areas of spheres and cylinders.
There were no major developments in geometry until the appearance of Rene
Descartes (15961650). In his famous treatise Discourse on the Method of Rightly
Conducting the Reason in the Search for Truth in the Sciences, Descartes combined
algebra and geometry to create analytic geometry. Analytic geometry, also known as
coordinate geometry, involves placing a geometric figure into a coordinate system to
illustrate proofs and to obtain information using algebraic equations.
The next great development in geometry came with the development of non-Euclidean
geometry. Carl Friedrich Gauss (17771855) who along with Archimedes and Newton is
considered to be one of the three greatest mathematicians of all time, invented non-
Euclidian geometry prior to the independent work of Janos Bolyai (18021860) and
Nikolai Lobachevsky (1792-1856). Non-Euclidian geometry generally refers to any
geometry not based on the postulates of Euclid, including geometries for which the
parallel postulate is not satisfied. The parallel postulate states that through a given point
not on a line, there is one and only one line parallel to that line. Non-Euclidian geometry
provides the mathematical foundation for Einsteins Theory of Relativity.
The most recent development in geometry is fractal geometry. Fractal geometry was
developed and popularized by Benoit Mandelbrot in his 1982 book The Fractal
Geometry of Nature. A fractal is a geometric shape, which is self-similar (invariance
under a change of scale) and has fractional (fractal) dimensions. Similar to chaos
theory, which is the study of non-linear systems; fractals are highly sensitive to initial
conditions where a small change in the initial conditions of a system can lead to
dramatically different outputs for that system.