PART ONE Ancient Mathematics

Chapter 1 Egypt and Mesopotamia 1

1.1 Egypt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Mesopotamia ............................................................................................10
1.3 Conclusion ................................................................................................27
Exercises ...................................................................................................28
References and Notes................................................................................30

Chapter 2 The Beginnings of Mathematics in Greece 32

2.1 The Earliest Greek Mathematics ...............................................................33
2.2 The Time of Plato ..................................................................................... 41
2.3 Aristotle ....................................................................................................43
Exercises ...................................................................................................47
References and Notes................................................................................48

Chapter 3 Euclid 50
3.1 Introduction to the Elements .....................................................................51
3.2 Book I and the Pythagorean Theorem....................................................... 53
3.3 Book II and Geometric Algebra ................................................................60
3.4 Circles and the Pentagon Construction ..................................................... 66
3.5 Ratio and Proportion .................................................................................71
3.6 Number Theory.........................................................................................77
3.7 Irrational Magnitudes................................................................................81
3.8 Solid Geometry and the Method of Exhaustion ........................................83
3.9 Euclid’s Data ............................................................................................88
References and Notes................................................................................92
vi Contents

Chapter 4 Archimedes and Apollonius 94

4.1 Archimedes and Physics .............................................................. 96
4.2 Archimedes and Numerical Calculations .................................. 101
4.3 Archimedes and Geometry ........................................................ 103
4.4 Conic Sections before Apollonius ............................................. 112
4.5 The Conics of Apollonius .......................................................... 115
Exercises.................................................................................... 127
References and Notes ................................................................ 131

Chapter 5 Mathematical Methods in Hellenistic Times 133

5.1 Astronomy before Ptolemy ........................................................ 134
5.2 Ptolemy and the Almagest ......................................................... 145
5.3 Practical Mathematics ............................................................... 157
Exercises .................................................................................... 168
References and Notes ................................................................ 170