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Euclid of Alexandria (c.330–c. 270 BC)
Greek mathematician who compiled and systematically arranged the geometry and number theory of his day into the famous text Elements. This text, used in schools for about 2,000 years, earned him the name "the father of geometry." Even today, the geometries which don't satisfy the fifth of Euclid's "common notions" (now called axioms or postulates) are called non-Euclidean geometries. When, according to the Greek philosopher Proclus, the Egyptian ruler Ptolemy asked if there was a shorter way to the study of geometry than the Elements, Euclid told the Pharaoh that "there is no royal road to geometry."
Little is known of Euclid's life. Proclus wrote (c. AD 350) that Euclid lived during the reign of Ptolemy and founded the first school of mathematics in Alexandria – the site of the most impressive library of ancient times with perhaps as many as 700,000 volumes. He wrote books on other subjects such as optics and conic sections, but most of them are now lost.
Related entry
• Euclidean geometry
Related category
• MATHEMATICIANS
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