Euclid

Alexandria

Around 300 BC, at the Musaeum.

💡 Did you know? Euclid worked in Alexandria, the scholarly capital of the ancient world with its legendary library.

Elements

The most successful maths textbook in history.

💡 Did you know? After the Bible, „The Elements“ was for centuries the most printed book in the world.

geometry

Points, lines, areas, solids.

💡 Did you know? Euclid's geometry is still taught in school: over 2,000 years after it was written.

axiomatic method

Everything is derived from a few basic assumptions.

💡 Did you know? Euclid built all of geometry logically from a few basic assumptions (axioms): a model for all science.

Euclidean geometry

The geometry of the flat plane.

💡 Did you know? „Euclidean geometry“ holds on flat surfaces: only in the 19th century were „curved“ alternatives discovered.

infinitely many primes

With a famously elegant proof.

💡 Did you know? Euclid's elegant proof that there are infinitely many primes is still a model of mathematical beauty.

no royal road to geometry

Knowledge cannot be shortcut.

💡 Did you know? „There is no royal road to geometry“ Euclid is said to have told his king, who wanted an easier path.

Euclid

Euclid was a Greek mathematician in Alexandria whose „Elements“ shaped geometry for over two millennia.

💡 Did you know? After the Bible, his textbook was for centuries the most printed work in the world.

325 BC

Born: c. 325 BC

265 BC

Died: c. 265 BC