GEOMETRIES

Euclidean Geometry is considered Euclids magnum opus in Mathematics. It is a scholarly work regarded
as bible of mathematicians and scholars, and deemed untouchable in a sense that the validity of its
contents cannot be challenged. Euclids work had been published numerous times, next to the bible. It is
true until now. In fact, here in the Philippines, Euclidean geometry is the only geometry taught and
learned by the high school students and if there exist students who know non-Euclidean geometry, their
numbers are far lesser compared to student who knows Euclids masterpiece.
Euclidean geometry is a type of geometry that is based on the definitions, postulates, and undefined
terms likes points, lines, and of course plane, including the assumptions made by Euclid and included in
his work entitled element. His paper is said to be the first discussion made on geometry though it is
known that many of his findings were already mentioned in the works of earlier Greeks. During Euclids
time, many mathematicians had no meager strength to dispute Euclids elements. Nevertheless, the
what ifs of men had never stopped the conception of new ideas that had led to mathematical
advancement. From reason, a new reason was born which later gave birth to what we know non-
Euclidean geometry; then regarded as a treat to the existence of status quo on Euclids masterwork. I
use the word treat because of non-Euclideans approach of disputing Euclids postulates. It doesnt
mean that non-Euclidean geometry is a totally different type of geometry.
The two known non-Euclidean geometries are spherical and hyperbolic. Euclidean, Spherical, and
Hyperbolic share similarities and differences. Sharing similarities and differences means that what it
seems true to Euclidean geometry may or may not be true to spherical and hyperbolic geometry, and
what seems true to one may be true to all.
To be able to easily grasp the divergent ideas among Euclidean, Spherical, and Hyperbolic, let us give
attention to various issues relating to them. The first issue that we will focus is the definition of lines. In
Euclidean geometry, straight line is defined as something that can be traced by a point traveling from a
constant direction. This means that a straight line is a line with zero curvature. There are different ways
to check if the line doesnt have any curvature but this would not be our focus. Meanwhile, the line in
the context of spherical geometry is a like a great circle. This great circle is the intersection of the sphere
with the plane through the origin of the sphere. Our next focus of discussion will be the definition and
characteristics of an angle drawn in each plane. In Euclidean geometry, the sum of the interior angles of
an angle drawn in a plane is always 180 degrees. It is not true for spherical where interior angles are
greater than 180 and in hyperbolic where it is always less than 180 degrees. On the other hand, we
should not overlook the truth that isosceles triangles hold on all three surfaces.
Among the arising issues brought by the dissimilarities of these three geometries, the issue of
parallel lines had been the most discussed and its definition had been the most disputed. Unlike the
first four postulate of Euclid which are readily acceptable and easy to comprehend with, parallel
postulate had been considered a blot on Euclid. The fifth postulate had undergone a lot of scrutiny
leading curios students to ask: what is wrong with Euclids fifth postulate that it was really a
controversy? If we look at again on Euclids postulates, we will notice that among these five axioms, the
postulate regarding parallelism is too complex to understand compared to his first four axioms. Euclids
parallel postulate states that Let line t fall into two lines m and n. If the sum of the interior angles of
one side of line t is less than 180 degrees, it shows that the two lines m and n will pass on to the same
point P on the side of the of two interior angles .
This complexity led to the conclusion that Euclids fifth postulate should rather be termed theorem
and not a postulate. On the other hand, if it is such a theorem, it should be proven using his first four
postulates. Several attempts were made. The first attempt was made by Gauss who, instead of verifying
that postulate 5 is dependent from the four postulates, adopted the four and altered the fifth. Gauss
used this postulates together with the other four to form a new type of geometry. This is known as
hyperbolic geometry and with reference to parallel postulate, according to hyperbolic geometry: If l is
any line and P is any point not on the line, there exist at least two lines that are parallel to line l. This
means that on Euclidean surface, parallel lines do not intersect and are equidistant. Whereas, on
hyperbolic, the parallel transported lines diverge in both directions. This type of non- Euclidean
geometry was the one manifested in Einstein Theory of Relativity since he stated in his work that the
space is curved. Working on a saddle shaped surface, the following are true:
1. The sum of the interior angles of a triangle will never be equal or greater than 180 degrees.
2. The triangles of the same angles have also the same areas.
3. Similar triangles do not occur in hyperbolic geometry.
4. Lines drawn in hyperbolic space do not intersect.

After this radical move of Gauss, another type of Geometry was published by Riemann; Gauss
student. But again, it was different from the geometry published before him. This new geometry was
named Elliptic Geometry. With reference to parallel postulate, unlike Euclidean geometry, spherical
geometry states that if l is line and P is any point on line l, then there are no lines through P that are
parallel to l. Despite the fact that in this kind of geometry, we can still talk about points, lines, triangles,
distances of angles, areas, and proportions, it doesnt quite fit Euclids fifth postulates. Why not? Well, in
contrast with the Euclidean geometry, it is not true that given any two points there is a unique line
through them because if we happen to choose two points which are opposite, then there is a whole
family of great circles that go through them. To visualize how this is different with the Euclidean,
imagine working on a spherical surface rather on a flat piece of paper. Working on a spherical surface
will result on the following:
1. The sum of the interior angles is no longer 180 but greater than 180 and this is true in all cases.
2. In this surface you cannot construct a straight line, so there is no straight line in non- Euclidean
geometry.
3. The shortest distance between two points is not unique, since for example there are a lot of
geodesic lines that intersect at some point.

In general, the non-Euclidean geometry does not necessarily reject the Euclidean. It just negates the
parallel postulate. Nevertheless, the contention and the emergent of the new form of geometry while
discloses Euclideans limitation to be the only source in describing all of the physical space, does not
mean there something wrong with Euclidean Geometry. Indeed, the validity of their postulates varies
from application to application and their similarities are valid from perspective to perspective. The
significance of Euclidean geometry cannot be vilified by non-Euclideans application to navigation,
aviation, astronomy and any other branches of science like that of explaining Einsteins General Theory
of Relativity, for without Euclidean geometry, non-Euclideans existence might had come too late from
the recorded date of its coming to dawn.

References:
O'Connor J.J and Robertson, E.F. Non-Euclidean Geometry. Feb. 1996. Web. 15 January 2014.

Roberts, Donna. Euclidean and Non-Euclidean Geometry. 2012. Web. 30 December 2013.