Euclid (circa 300 B.C.) was a mathematical genius . He founded a school at Alexandria and taught there.
Illustration: V.K. SUBRAMANIAN
Euclid, the Greek mathematician, is called the “Father of Geometry”. Euclid’s famous work Elements remained the textbook of geometry in every European university till the 19th century A.D.
Very little is known about Euclid’s life, except that he founded a school at Alexandria and taught there, during the reign of Ptolemy I (323 to 285 B.C.)
Euclid was a mathematical genius. He reduced the intricate design of the earth and heaven to a combination of points, lines, angles, curves, surfaces and solids.
Practical applications
When his fellow professors told him that there was no way to measure the height of the Great pyramid, Euclid waited for that time of the day when the length of his shadow was equal to his height and at that time measured the length of the pyramid’s shadow and told his colleagues: “Gentlemen, this is the exact height of the pyramid!”
Euclid loved learning for learning’s sake. Once, when a student asked: “What is the practical use in studying geometry?” Euclid rebuked him by asking his servant to give him a dollar, remarking “He can’t learn without money!”
When Ptolemy, who was learning geometry from Euclid, asked: “Is there no shorter way of learning than through your method?” Euclid rebuked him by saying: “There is no royal road to geometry!”
Euclid was a gentle and kindly old man, shy, modest and aloof from politics and military adventure. He said: “These things pass. But the designs of the heavenly stars shall remain eternally fixed.”
This is an extract from the book The Great Ones by V.K.Subramanian, Abhinav Publications, New Delhi
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