What are some interesting facts about Euclid?

Answer 1

1. Had a pet dog named Sam.
2. Liked margarine.

Answer 2

As Jamaica said, he was a Greek mathematician. He went to Alexandria, where most (and maybe all) the great mathematicians took their lessons.
His life was 325 BC to 265 BC
He is considered as a platonic philossopher, since he followed the pyramid way of logic (starting from basic things and going with logical steps to higher and deeper answares).

Some say that he was the mentor of Archimides.

His works are the elements (τα στοιχεία), Data (τα δεδομένα), Phaenomena (τα φαινόμενα), Optics (οπτική) and more.

In the elements there is an axiom that in the first years after Christ some thought that it was not an axiom, but a theorem. (Saying that something is an axiom,it means that it is impossible to proove it. Saying that it is a theorem, means that you can proove it.)
So these mathematicians thought that Euclid was mistaken. And they tried to make the proof. However they could not. Finally, in 1700 (? - I dont remember well) somebody prooved that it is impossible to prove this axiom. So Euclid was right.
But all this history, made mathematicians wonder what would happen if we deny the axiom.
And this was the begin of some non-Euclid geometries.


(This axiom was sayin that if you have a line and a specific point out of this line, then, there is only one line parallel to the other, that passes from this point)

In Optics he gave some very interresting theorems, even thought he was based on the (wrong) idea that the eye is the transmitter and not the Sun.

There are many things you can find about him.

Answer 3

Greek geometer who wrote the Elements , the world's most definitive text on geometry. The book synthesized earlier knowledge about geometry, and was used for centuries in western Europe as a geometry textbook. The text began with definitions, postulates ("Euclid's postulates "), and common opinions, then proceeded to obtain results by rigorous geometric proof. Euclid also proved what is generally known as Euclid's second theorem: the number of primes is infinite. The beautiful proof Euclid gave of this theorem is still a gem and is generally acknowledged to be one of the "classic" proofs of all times in terms of its conciseness and clarity. In the Elements , Euclid used the method of exhaustion and reductio ad absurdum. He also discussed the so-called Euclidean algorithm for finding the greatest common divisor of two numbers, and is credited with the well-known proof of the Pythagorean theorem.

Neither the year nor place of his birth have been established, nor the circumstances of his death, although he is known to have lived and worked in Alexandria for much of his life. In addition, no bust which can be verified to be his likeness is known

Answer 4

Euclid was the first to realize that parallel lines don't necessarily meet or that parallel lines cannot avoid meeting, both forerunners of modern non-Euclidian geometries, of great importance to General Relativity. He had to accept a parallel line postulate because it couldn't be proven, in order to proceed with what's now called "Euclidian Geometry". Now, that's way more sophisicated than what your average modern student is even able to understand today, so let's all give Euclid credit for his brilliant insight. He was a smart guy.

Addendum: Hey, I give Alex A thanks for elaborating on Euclid's Parallel Postulate.

Answer 5

1.) There is no zero in the first 31 digits of Pi. 2.) At position 762 there are six nines in a row. 3.) The old memory Champion was Hideaki Tomoyori who recited Pi for 40,000 places in 17 hours. The new memory champion is Hiroyoki Gotu who memorized 42,000 digits. 5.)The Bible uses a value of Pi of 3 in a verse from I Kings 7,23. 5.)To recite 0.64 of a percent of Pi it would take 133 years with no pause for coffee or sleep

Answer 6

"Euclid" actually means "Good Glory" In Greek