Euclid Research Paper

Euclid of ‘Alexandria’ was born around 330 B.C, in Alexandria. Alexandria was once, the largest city in the Western World and was also central to the great, flourishing, Papyrus industry. Certain Arabian authors assume that Euclid was born to a wealthy family to ‘Naucrates’. Of Euclid’s life nothing is known except what the Greek philosopher Proclus (c. ad 410–485) reports in his “summary” of famous Greek mathematicians. According to him, Euclid taught at Alexandria in the time of Ptolemy I Soter, who reigned over Egypt from 323 to 285 bc. Medieval translators and editors often confused him with the philosopher Eukleides of Megara, a contemporary of Plato about a century before, and therefore called him Megarensis. Proclus supported his date for Euclid by writing “Ptolemy once asked Euclid if there was not a shorter road to geometry than through the Elements, and Euclid replied that there was no royal road to geometry.” It was in this city where Euclid developed, imparted, and shared his knowledge on mathematics and geometry with the rest of the world.

Although little is known about Euclid's early and personal life, he was known as the forerunner of geometrical knowledge and went on to contribute greatly in the field of mathematics., Euclid was known to have taught the subject of mathematics in Ancient Egypt during the reign of Ptolemy I. He was well-known, having written the most permanent mathematical works of all time, known as the 'Elements' that comprised of the 13 gigantic volumes filled with geometrical theories and knowledge. Euclid’s Elements form one of the most beautiful and influential works of science in the history of humankind. Its beauty lies in its logical development of geometry and other branches of mathema...

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...e perished around 260 B.C. The legacy he left behind after his death was far more profound than the impression he created when he was alive. His books and treatises were sold and used by personalities all over the world up until the 19th century. His legacy carried on for that 200 centuries after his death and inspired personalities such as Abraham Lincoln along the way. It is said that Lincoln would religiously carry the ‘Elements’ with him wherever he would go, and would often quote the genius of Euclid’s works in his speeches. Even after Euclid’s death, Mathematicians continued to write theorems and his works under his name. In all true sense, at a time when knowledge was inaccessible to a majority of the world’s population, Euclid logically and scientifically developed Mathematical formats of antiquity that are known to the world as “Euclidian Geometry” today.