GREEK

GEOMETRY
Secrets of the Ancient Mystics Revealed

Daniel Sunday, PhD

Copyright © 2020, Daniel Sunday
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 9798595908399

First Printing: January 2021.

Revised: February 2021, April 2021.
 CONTENTS

CONTENTS ............................................................................................... I
PREFACE ............................................................................................... III
INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................V
PRELUDE ................................................................................................ 1
BABYLON................................................................................................ 2
EGYPT ................................................................................................... 6
INDIA ...................................................................................................... 8
THE PRE-SOCRATICS ......................................................................... 11
THALES OF MILETUS ............................................................................. 12
PYTHAGORAS OF SAMOS ...................................................................... 15
ANAXAGORAS OF CLAZOMENAE ............................................................ 19
OENOPIDES OF CHIOS .......................................................................... 19
THE EUCLIDEAN AGE ......................................................................... 21
ANTIPHON THE SOPHIST ....................................................................... 23
BRYSON OF HERACLEA ......................................................................... 24
HIPPOCRATES OF CHIOS....................................................................... 25
HIPPIAS OF ELIS ................................................................................... 30
DEMOCRITUS OF ABDERA ..................................................................... 32
PLATO .................................................................................................. 33
ARCHYTAS OF TARENTUM ..................................................................... 36
THEAETETUS OF ATHENS ...................................................................... 38

i
 EUDOXUS OF CNIDUS ........................................................................... 40
DINOSTRATUS ...................................................................................... 45
MENAECHMUS ...................................................................................... 48
ARISTAEUS THE ELDER ......................................................................... 50
EUDEMUS OF RHODES .......................................................................... 52
EUCLID OF ALEXANDRIA ........................................................................ 54
THE ARCHIMEDEAN AGE ................................................................... 61
ARCHIMEDES OF SYRACUSE ................................................................. 62
NICOMEDES.......................................................................................... 69
PHILON THE BYZANTINE ........................................................................ 75
APOLLONIUS OF PERGA ........................................................................ 79
DIONYSODORUS ................................................................................... 89
DIOCLES .............................................................................................. 90
HIPPARCHUS OF RHODES ..................................................................... 93
THEODOSIUS OF BITHYNIA .................................................................... 94
HERON OF ALEXANDRIA ........................................................................ 95
MENELAUS OF ALEXANDRIA .................................................................. 97
CLAUDIUS PTOLEMY ........................................................................... 100
PAPPUS OF ALEXANDRIA..................................................................... 110
EPILOG ................................................................................................ 117
THEON OF ALEXANDRIA....................................................................... 117
HYPATIA OF ALEXANDRIA .................................................................... 117
EUTOCIUS OF ASCALON ...................................................................... 118
PROCLUS DIADOCHUS ........................................................................ 118
SIMPLICIUS ......................................................................................... 118
THE END ............................................................................................ 119
REFERENCES ..................................................................................... 121
GENERAL ........................................................................................... 121
SPECIFIC ............................................................................................ 123

ii
 PREFACE

This book is suitable for a course or seminar at the undergraduate

level, though it will interest graduate students and professors as
well. The prerequisites are only elementary geometry and algebra.

This book describes the evolution of geometric ideas in the abstract

world of geometric objects. This is not a packaged summary, but
instead a journey of creative discovery that will inspire both stu-
dents and teachers.

This book presents an overview of the history of ancient Greek ge-

ometry. It highlights the major Greek geometers and their work.
This book also explores and traces the history of many topics.

• The evolution of the Pythagorean theorem.

• Formulas to generate Pythagorean triples.
• Attempts to solve the classical problems of squaring a
circle, trisecting an angle, and doubling a cube.
• Various mechanical “neusis” methods for solving these
three classical problems.
• The determination of valid proofs.
• The discovery of the conic sections (parabola, hyperbola,
and ellipse), and how they were used.

iii
 • The evolution of the method of exhaustion, leading to inte-
gration techniques.
• The discovery of pi.
• The discovery of other exotic curves, including the quadra-
trix, spiral, conchoid, and cissoid.
• The evolution of spherical geometry, and trigonometry.
• The birth of projective geometry.
• And much more.

Instead of being a chronology of events, this book gives a chronol-

ogy of people in a sequence of biographies focused on their contri-
butions to geometry. So, there is little about their lives other than
their works. This makes the flow of Greek discoveries between
individuals and the evolution of geometry more transparent. We
begin with the pre-Socratics (including Thales and Pythagoras)
who started the millennium of Greek geometry. We then continue
with 13 geometers who preceded Euclid (including Hippocrates,
Plato, Theaetetus, and Eudoxus) culminating with Euclid and his
Elements of Geometry.

After Euclid, a new age of geometry began with Archimedes who

was followed by 10 geometers (including Apollonius, Ptolemy, and
Pappus). During this period, Archimedes discovered the constant
pi, new semi-regular polyhedrons, and new methods of integration.
And new curves were discovered such as Archimedes’ spiral,
Nicomedes’ conchoid, and Diocles’ cissoid. Also, Apollonius’
Conics, Ptolemy’s Almagest on astronomy, and Pappus’ Collection
were written. We give detailed descriptions of these mathematical
masterpieces and their main results.

iv
 INTRODUCTION

At first, our ancestors invented numbers for counting, and discov-

ered numeric operations, adding, subtracting, multiplying, and di-
viding. This was useful for bartering. As they advanced, they began
to solve numeric problems. And then they started using numbers to
measure objects, like distances between places, the amount of
land they had, and how much grain they had in their storage bins.
They measured objects by pacing distances or using feet, arms,
hands, and fingers. Some objects needed two measurements, such
as the length and width of a field. Other objects needed a third one,
height, like a box or a cylindrical silo. And someone discovered how
to use a rope to make all these measurements.

Ropes had been invented long before this in prehistoric times, with
remnants found dating back to 40,000 BC. Initially, ropes were used
for pulling, fastening, attaching, carrying, lifting, and climbing. They
also knew how to tie some basic knots. There were many sources
of rope: vines, leather strips from animal hides, and fibers from all
kinds of plants. And ropes could be pulled tight to make straight
lines, between stones or stakes in the ground. This was useful for
marking property boundaries and constructing all kinds of dwellings
and other objects. Further, they could even make circles by looping
one end of a rope around an object (a tree, stone, or stake) and

v
moving around that object at a fixed rope distance from it. And
geometry was born.

Many things became possible. Types of objects were given names,

triangles, rectangles, squares, circles, cubes, cylinders, cones, pyr-
amids, etc. And many questions arose. Was my rectangular plot of
land bigger or smaller than my neighbor’s land? How much grain
could I grow on my land, and what size of bins did I need to store
it? And how much of my grain did the tax collector get? New ways
of computing were needed to meet these demands. And geometry
started to grow.

This history of Greek geometry starts with a brief Prelude that sur-
veys the main geometric problems studied by the ancient cultures
that preceded the Greeks and inspired them. This includes Baby-
lon, Egypt, and India.

We describe many things with modern notation, algebraic expres-

sions, and equations. This is convenient for clear and concise com-
munication. But one must remember that those ancient civiliza-
tions, including the Greeks, had no algebra. They only had numbers
and geometry. Numbers expressed magnitudes that could be com-
pared as being less than, equal to, or greater than each other. And
geometric objects had lengths, angles, areas, and volumes, which
could be measured and then compared to other objects of the same
type. So, areas could be compared with each other, but not com-
pared with lengths or volumes.

Comparisons could be given a numeric value, a ratio between the

magnitudes being compared. For example, we often think of the
number π as the ratio between the area of a circle and the square
on its radius. But the ancients had no notion that this number
existed. Even the Greeks did not know about this number until
Archimedes. The ancients before the Greeks mostly thought of how
closely the measurement of one object could approximate the mag-
nitude of another. Therefore, the problem of squaring the circle
became important to them. They had a way to measure the area of
a rectangle or square by multiplying the dimensions of two sides.
vi
But there was no effective way to measure the area of a circle; it
had to be approximated. And this approximation was never thought
of as simply multiplying a known area, like the square on a circle’s
radius, by some magic number, which we now call π. Nevertheless,
we can infer from their area comparison methods what the approx-
imate value of π would have been for the method they used.

This book is organized into five sections: the Prelude, the pre-So-
cratics, the Age of Euclid, the Age of Archimedes, and an Epilog.
The Prelude summarizes the geometry of the ancient civilizations
that preceded the Greeks. The pre-Socratics covers the beginnings
of Greek geometry by Thales and Pythagoras, who were experi-
menting with different methods of logical deduction. This period
was arbitrarily marked as ending after Oenopides who was the first
to specify that valid geometry constructions and proofs could only
use an unmarked straightedge and a compass to draw circles. The
Greeks accepted this after him, up to and including Euclid whose
Elements used this method exclusively. This part of Greek geome-
try is covered in the Age of Euclid section.

Following this is the Age of Archimedes, which marks a loosening

of rigid rules and opened the door for new methods of geometric
construction and proof. Archimedes exemplified this with his rigor-
ous integration techniques based on Eudoxus’ method of exhaus-
tion, his work with spirals and the parabola, and his breakthrough
“mechanical method” to prove many theorems. This inspired those
who followed him, especially the Conics of Apollonius, the Alma-
gest of Ptolemy, and the Collection of Pappus, who was the last of
the great Greek geometers. The Epilog then wraps up for this era
of mathematical history.

Mostly, this book gives summaries for the most noteworthy results
of each geometer. And proofs are only given for certain topics.
These include theorems about the three classic problems of squar-
ing the circle, doubling the cube, and trisecting an angle. Addition-
ally, we give details for the construction and application of unusual
curves, sometimes used to investigate, and solve classic problems.

vii
This includes the lune of Hippocrates, the quadratrix of Hippias and
Dinostratus, the conics of Menaechmus and Apollonius, the spiral
of Archimedes, the conchoid of Nicomedes, and the cissoid of Dio-
cles. We also give proofs for results that used the evolving “method
of exhaustion”, including Antiphon, Hippocrates, Eudoxus, Dino-
stratus, Euclid, and Archimedes.

viii
 PRELUDE

Ancient civilizations did the groundwork for creating geometry.

They defined the basic objects of study, lines, circles, squares, rec-
tangles, triangles, cubes, cylinders, prisms, and pyramids. And they
specified attributes of interest, length, area, volume, and angles.
And they started to discover ways to compute magnitudes of and
study the relationships between geometric objects. Further, they
used this knowledge to design and build things with the tools they
had, minimally construction designs using only straight lines and
circles. They did not specify this as a rule, but in practice, their work
supports this. Here we briefly review some of the ancient geometric
ideas and methods of Babylon, Egypt, and India that gave the
Greeks their starting point.

1
 BABYLON
(2000-500 BC)

The ancient Babylonians replaced

the Sumerian (4000-2000 BC) civi-
lization. The Sumerians had al-
ready developed writing (cuneiform
on clay tablets) and arithmetic (us-
ing a sexagesimal base 60 number
system). The Babylonians adopted
both. But Babylonian math went
beyond arithmetic to develop basic
ideas in number theory and geom-
etry. The problems they wanted to solve usually involved construc-
tion and land estimation, such as areas and volumes of rectangular
objects. Some of their methods were rules that solved specialized
quadratic and even some cubic equations. But they did not have
algebraic notation, and there is no evidence that they had logical
proofs for the correctness of their rule-based methods. Neverthe-
less, they knew specific cases of the Pythagorean Theorem more
than 1000 years before the Greeks. Their durable clay tablets pre-
served some of their knowledge (better than the fragile Egyptian
papyri). Four specific tablets, all from the period 1900-1600 BC,
represent Babylonian mathematical knowledge.

SUSA TABLET (~1900 BC)

asks how to find the radius of the
circle through the three vertices of an
isosceles with sides 50, 50, and 60.
Draw AD perpendicular to BC, bisect-
ing it so that CD = DB = 30. Then
ΔABD and ΔACD are similar to the
3-4-5 right-angled triangle, giving
AD = 40. Also, let the circle have
center O and radius R, so AO = BO =
CO = R. Next, the Pythagorean theorem (unknown to the

2
Babylonians 1400 years before Pythagoras) for ΔBDO gives
R2 = 302 + (40-R)2 and R = 31.25. This is easy to solve with modern
algebra, but not without. Note that the solution uses a right-angled
triangle with a non-integer side but multiplying by 4 gives integers.
Did they know the general Pythagorean theorem at that time?

YALE TABLET (~1800-1600 BC)

shows the length of the diagonal of a
square with sides 30. At the intersec-
tion of the diagonals, there are two
numbers (in base 60) 1,24,51,10 and
42,25,35. In the first one, taking 1 as
the integer part and 24,51,10 as a
place-valued fraction, it computes in
decimal to be 1.414212963, which is
remarkably close to the actual value of
√2 = 1.414213562. And when one mul-
tiplies 30 times this, one gets their second number 42,25,35, the
actual length of the diagonal. Some people claim this shows that
the Babylonians knew a special case of the Pythagorean theorem,
more than 1000 years before Greek geometry started. And they
were remarkably accurate. It is not known what method they used
to compute this. But some historians conjecture that the Babyloni-
ans, who were good at numerical computing, used a method that
was like one of Heron’s 1800 years later.

PLIMPTON TABLET (~1800 BC)

has a table with four columns
and 15 rows. Label the columns
A, B, C with entries a, b, c. The
values for b and c are all inte-
gers. And one can verify that
(c2 – b2) is always a perfect inte-
ger square, say h2. Thus (h, b, c)
is a Pythagorean triple; that is,
3
three positive integers (x, y, z) satisfying x2 + y2 = z2. Curiously in
the Plimpton tablet, the first column is a = (c / h)2, whose value is
descending. It is not clear why this value was recorded. Also, the
triples listed are not always the simplest ones; for example, they list
the triple (45, 60, 75) which is 15 times the simple (3, 4, 5) triple
that they knew. And they never record h directly. For these reasons,
some historians have said that this table has nothing to do with
Pythagorean triples, but was used to solve quadratic equations.

Nevertheless, the British topologist Zeeman made a fascinating

conjecture. He pointed out that if they used the formulas: h = 2mn,
b = (m2 – n2), and c = (m2 + n2) (where m and n are coprime inte-
gers with some constraints, like n < m and n < 60), then they get
the triples listed on this tablet. However, those formulas are the
same ones given by Euclid to generate Pythagorean triples (Ele-
ments, Book X, Prop XXIX). So, it is a huge leap of faith to think
that the Babylonians knew those formulas. But computation was
their forte, so they had some numeric method. Nevertheless, know-
ing how to generate such triples does not imply that they knew the
general Pythagorean theorem.

TELL DHIBAI (~1770 BC)

shows how to find the sides of a rectangle
with a given area A = 0.75 and diagonal
c = 1.25. This tablet describes the solution
with text only, but the solution is proven
correct with the Pythagorean theorem.
Because the solution is a logical sequence
of assertions, it could be viewed as a geo-
metric proof, making it the first record of
deductive geometric thinking. The steps of
the solution are believed to be cut-and-paste geometric operations
involving the diagram illustrated here. This suggests that, at an ear-
lier time, the Babylonians had derived the Pythagorean theorem.

4
But there is no direct evidence to support this. This and other tab-
lets always treat cases that may have been known empirically.

Further, there is no evidence before Euclid that the Greeks had

access to Babylonian mathematical knowledge, though some
Greeks may have traveled to Babylon. More likely, some Babylo-
nian mathematics was known to the Egyptians; and through them
was passed on to the Greeks. Thales, Pythagoras, and others were
known to have traveled to Egypt. Also, in 331 BC, Alexander the
Great captured the city of Babylon from the Persian King Darius III.
After that, some Babylonian tablets were taken to Greece and stud-
ied. This was just before Euclid started to work on compiling his
Elements, so he may have been aware of some Babylonian geom-
etry. However, Greek geometry at that time was more advanced
than what the Babylonians previously knew.

5
 EGYPT
(2000-500 BC)

The geometry of the ancient Egyptians was mostly experimentally

derived rules used by their engineers. They developed these rules
to estimate and divide land areas and estimate volumes of objects.
Some of this was to compute taxes for landowners. They also used
these rules for the construction of buildings, most notably the pyra-
mids. They had methods using ropes to measure lengths. And they
computed areas and volumes for diverse types of objects, such as
triangles, quadrilaterals, circles, and truncated pyramids. Some of
their rule-based methods were correct, but others only gave
approximations. However, there is no evidence that the Egyptians
logically deduced geometric facts and methods from basic princi-
ples. And there is no evidence that they knew a general form of the
Pythagorean theorem, though they had some methods for con-
structing right angles. Nevertheless, they inspired early pre-So-
cratic Greek geometers like Thales and Pythagoras. However, they
knew more than has been recorded since most ancient Egyptian
knowledge and documents have been lost. The most significant
surviving documents are the Moscow and Rhind papyri.

MOSCOW PAPYRUS (1750 BC)

The scribe who wrote the Moscow

Papyrus did not record his name.
This papyrus has 25 problems with
solutions, some of which are geo-
metric. One, Problem 14, describes
how to calculate the volume of a
truncated pyramid (a frustum), using
a numerical method equivalent to
the modern formula: V = (h / 3)(a2 + ab + b2), where a and b are
the sides of the base and top squares, and the height is h.

6
RHIND PAPYRUS (1680-1620 BC)

was written by Ahmes. In it, he claims

to be the scribe and annotator of an
earlier document from about 1850 BC.
It has rules for division and has 87
problems with solutions including
equations, progressions, areas of geo-
metric regions, the volume of both
cylindrical and rectangular granaries,
and the slopes of pyramids. Examples
are:

Problem 41. computes the volume of a cylindrical granary that has

a diameter d, a radius r, and a height h, using the formula
V = [(1 – 1/9) d]2 h = (256 / 81) r2h. which implies an approxima-
tion of π = 256 / 81 = 3.16049, cutting 1/9 off the circle’s diameter
to get the side of a square with an approximately equal area. This
was their method for squaring the circle.

Problem 48. States that the ratio of a circle’s area to its circumscrib-
ing square is 64 / 81, again with an approximation of π = 256 / 81.

7
 INDIA
(1500-500 BC)

Everything that we know about ancient Indian mathematics is con-

tained in the Sulbasutras. These are appendices to the Vedas and
give rules for constructing sacrificial altars. To please the gods, an
altar's measurements had to conform to a very precise formula, and
mathematical accuracy was especially important. It is not histori-
cally clear whether this computation was developed by the Indian
Vedic culture, or whether it was borrowed from the Babylonians.
Like the Babylonians, results in the Sulbasutras are in terms of
ropes; and "sutra" eventually came to mean a rope for measuring
an altar. The Sulbasutras are simply construction manuals for some
basic geometric shapes. And some established constructions recur
in all Sulbasutras.

For example, they all had the same

method for finding a square whose
area equals the sum of two smaller
squares. As shown in the diagram,
for the two squares ABCD and
PQRS, mark X on PQ with PX = AB,
and join SX. Then the square SXYZ
has an area equal to the sum of the
areas for ABCD and PQRS. This is
an application of the general
Pythagorean theorem.

Also, all Sulbasutras had a method to

square the circle (one of the famous
Greek problems) For this, they all used
the same method where the side of the
square was 13/15 the diameter of the
circle. That is, they used an approxima-
tion of π = 676 / 225 = 3.004. This was
empirically derived.

8
Further, all Sulbasutras considered the
converse problem of finding a circle
equal in area to a given square. Shown
in the diagram, given a square ABCD,
find the center O. Then, rotate OD to
position OE where OE passes through
the midpoint P of the side DC of the
square. Let Q be the point on PE such
that PQ is one-third of PE. Then, the
required circle has center O and
radius OQ. This construction implies
that they approximated π as equal to
36 / (6 + 4√2)2 = 3.088 This was empirically derived and was a
slightly different approximation value than other sutras.

It is worth mentioning that for all sutras together, many different ap-
proximations of π are implied by their constructions. This includes
the values 2.99, 3.00, 3.004, 3.029, 3.047, 3.088, 3.1141, 3.16049
and 3.2022.

The main Sulbasutras, named after their authors, are the following.

BAUDHAYANA (800 BC)

was the author of the earliest known Sulbasutra. Although he was

a priest interested in constructing altars, and not a mathematician,
his Sulbasutra has geometric constructions for solving linear and
quadratic equations. Also, he gave geometric area-preserving
transformations from one geometric shape to another. These
include transforming a square into a rectangle, an isosceles trape-
zium, an isosceles triangle, a rhombus, and a circle, and finally
transforming a circle into a square. Also, he gave the construction
for finding a square whose area equals the sum of two smaller
squares, which is the general Pythagorean theorem. Further, he
gave a method to derive Pythagorean triples.

9
Additionally, Baudhayana had an
intricate construction to find a square
with the same area as a given rec-
tangle, which also implies knowing
the more general Pythagorean theo-
rem. In the diagram, starting with the
rectangle ABCD, he constructed the
square QEFG, which has the same
area as ABCD. This can be proven
correct with modern algebra and the
general Pythagorean theorem, by
computing: EQ2 = QR2 − RE2 =
QP2 − YP2 = ABYX + BQNM =
ABYX + XYCD = ABCD. Based on
this, some historians consider Baudhayana as the discoverer of the
Pythagorean theorem. However, Baudhayana did not prove this.
Nevertheless, this is an amazing and complex construction, so how
could have he derived it?

MANAVA (750-690 BC)

has approximate constructions of circles from rectangles, and

squares from circles, using an approximation of π = 25 / 8 = 3.125.

APASTAMBA (600-540 BC)

considers the problems of squaring the circle, and of dividing a

segment into 7 equal parts. He also gives an approximation of
√2 = 577 / 408 = 1.414215686, correct to 5 decimal places.

10
 THE PRE-SOCRATICS

A few pre-Socratics brought geometric knowledge from ancient

civilizations back to Greece and kick-started the Greek geometry
revolution. It is difficult to say when the presocratic age for geome-
try ends, especially since Socrates was not a mathematician. Some
authors claim it extends to Archytas, but he was a friend of Plato
who was a student of Socrates. That does not sound too “pre”
Socratic to me. I finally decided to put the dividing line after
Oenopides, who set up the criteria that valid “proofs” could only use
unmarked straightedge and compass constructions. This is the
point in time when the Euclidean method of geometry began.

11
 THALES OF MILETUS
(624-547 BC)

Thales was one of the Seven pre-Socratic Sages

and brought knowledge of geometry from Egypt
(and Babylon?) to Greece. Thales’ philosophy
broke from mythology, and he taught that nature
derived from a single ultimate substance, which
he proposed was water. For this, he is recognized
as the first person to have engaged in scientific
philosophy. Further, he is regarded as the first Greek mathemati-
cian, and the first to use deductive logic.

Thales is credited with the discovery and proof of many basic facts
of elementary geometry. There is some speculation about what he
proved and what he only conjectured. Since he was the first, he
experimented with various methods of reasoning. His proofs de-
pended on diagrams, and there was no rigorous logic following from
basic axioms. Some have suggested that he mostly used superim-
position and similarity in his earliest proofs. From this viewpoint, it
is easy to ascribe some theorems to him, but not others. One wa-
tershed result is for the sum of angles in a triangle being equal to
180°. Many attribute this to Pythagoras. But that result is a neces-
sary precursor to “Thales Theorem”, whose proof would also need
to be credited to Pythagoras. To shed light on this, we list possible
results proven by Thales in their natural logical sequence. And then
afterward evaluate what would be sufficient to “prove” them.

1. The circle is bisected by its diameter, which is the straight line

through its center.

2. At the intersection point of two lines, the angles opposite each

other are equal.

3. The base angles of an isosceles triangle are equal.

4. Two triangles are equal if they have two angles and one side
equal.

12
5. Two triangles are similar if they have all three angles equal.

6. THALES INTERCEPT THEOREM

For a triangle ΔABC, and a line parallel to
BC intersecting AB at D and AC at E, then
triangle ΔADE is similar to ΔABC and
AD / AB = AE / AC = DE / BC.

Conversely, if AD / AB = AE / AC, then DE

is parallel to BC.

7. For two parallel lines BC and DE cut by a line ADB, the similarly
placed angles at the intersection points B and D are equal, that is
ABC = ADE.

8. The sum of the angles in a triangle is equal to 180°.

Proof. Construct a line HAK parallel to BC. Then,
ABC + BAC + ACB = HAB +BAC + KAC = 180°.

9. THALES THEOREM For a triangle

inscribed in a semicircle with the diameter
as its base, then the inscribed angle is a
right angle. Conversely, when a triangle
inscribed in a circle has a right angle, then
the hypotenuse is a diameter of the circle.

Proof. Since OA = OB = OC, triangles

ΔAOB and ΔBOC are isosceles with base angles  and  respec-
tively. Adding them all we get 2 + 2 = 180°, thus
ABC =  +  = 90°.

It is easy to conclude that these results, in this given order, could

have been logically justified (proved?) using only superimposition
(translation, rotation, and reflection) and similarity (dilation). Also,
Thales Theorem could have been proved simply by circumscribing
a rectangle with a circle, where the diagonal is the circle’s diameter
and divides the rectangle into two equal right-angled triangles.

13
In any case, there is good evidence that he did know the Intercept
theorem and applied it. This theorem would later be given in
Euclid’s Elements Prop VI-2 and Prop VI-4. It had many useful
applications for the Greeks, such as,

a) dividing a line segment in a fixed integer ratio.

b) measuring the height of an object, like

• a building, pyramid, wall, or mountain

c) measuring the distance to an object, like

• the width of a river,
• a boat at sea.

14
 PYTHAGORAS OF SAMOS
(570-475 BC)

Pythagoras founded the Pythagorean school of phi-

losophy (530 BC), a secret and mystic religious
society whose main purpose was the cultivation of
holiness. The Pythagoreans reflected on the struc-
ture and nature of the universe, including matter,
music, numbers, and geometry. The Pythagoreans
are credited with proving many fundamental theorems, with credit
given only to their society, and not individual authors. Pythagoras
himself would not necessarily be involved in proving those theo-
rems and they never wrote down their results. So, what is claimed
as their work is highly speculative. Nevertheless, some well-known
claims of their results are the following.

TRIANGLE ANGLE SUM THEOREM. The sum of the angles

in a triangle is equal to 180°.

We already discussed the possibility that Thales may have known

this theorem and used it to prove “Thales Theorem” that the angle
of a triangle in a semicircle is a right angle. But in his history,
Eudemus credits the Pythagoreans with this result. They were also
credited with the following.

POLYGON ANGLE SUM THEOREMS

1. The sum of the interior angles in a polygon with n edges is equal
to (2n – 4) 180°.
2. The sum of the exterior angles in a polygon with n edges is equal
to 360°.

15
PYTHAGOREAN THEOREM
For a right-angled triangle with sides a, b, c,
where c is the side opposite the right angle,
then the equation a2 + b2 = c2 is true. Con-
versely, when a triplet (a, b, c) satisfies this
equation, then the triangle with those sides is
right-angled.

This is the infamous theorem for which cases had been known em-
pirically in Babylon and Egypt for more than 1000 years before
Pythagoras. It has been the cornerstone of mathematics through-
out all of history. There are hundreds of different proofs for this
theorem, though the one in Euclid’s Elements (Prop I-47) is the one
usually taught in schools but was not likely the proof, if any, used
by the Pythagoreans. However, an in-
teresting diagram for the special case
of the 3-4-5 triangle first appeared in
the Babylonian Tell Dhibai tablet. And a
variation of this diagram can prove the
general case.

Proof. Paste together four copies of the

right-angled triangle ΔABC as shown,
where 0 < a ≤ b < c are the sides oppo-
site to each angle. Then, they are inside a square with the side c
and surround an inner square with the side (b – a). Thus,
c2 = 4 (ab/2) + (b – a)2 = 2ab +( b2 – 2ab + a2) = a2 + b2.

PYTHAGOREAN TRIPLES
When the values of the triplet (a, b, c) satisfying the Pythagorean
equation are all positive integers, they are called a Pythagorean
Triple.

The Pythagoreans gave a numeric method for generating some tri-

ples. Using modern algebra, it can be expressed as follows.

16
TRIPLES THEOREM
Let a be an odd integer. Put b = (a2 –- 1) / 2, and c = (a2 + 1) / 2.
Then, (a, b, c) is a Pythagorean triple.

REGULAR POLYHEDRONS
The Pythagoreans discovered the tetrahe-
dron, cube, and dodecahedron as regular pol-
yhedrons constructed from congruent, regular
polygon faces with the same number of faces
meeting at each vertex. They may have given
constructions for these solids and their faces,
including the regular pentagon. There is no
sign they knew about the octahedron and the icosahedron. And
there is no mention of constructing regular polygons other than
ones with p sides with p = 3, 4, 5, and multiples of 2 which are
constructed by binary subdivision.

PYTHAGOREAN MEANS
The Pythagoreans defined three numeric means; namely, given x
and y, then.

(𝑥+𝑦)
The arithmetic mean = a = .
2
The geometric mean = g = √xy, which satisfies x / g = g / y.
2
The harmonic mean = h = 1
( ⁄𝑥 +1⁄𝑦)

17
GOLDEN RECTANGLE AND GOLDEN RATIO
A golden rectangle appeared in the Babylonian Tablet of Shamash
(~870 BC). And the dimensions of the Egyptian Great Pyramid of
Giza (~2560 BC) are related to the golden rectangle. But there is
no evidence they knew about its properties. They may have simply
regarded it as an esthetically pleasing rectangle. It is more likely
that the Pythagoreans discovered both the
Golden Rectangle and the Golden Ratio.

The golden rectangle is defined by the prop-

erty that when a square on the shorter side
is removed, then the remaining rectangle is
similar to the original one. That is, in the dia-
gram,

which is the golden ratio, an irrational number. This rectangle has

enjoyed great historic popularity, in mathematics, architecture, and
the arts.

18
 ANAXAGORAS OF CLAZOMENAE
(499-428 BC)

Anaxagoras was the first Greek known to have studied the problem
of squaring the circle. He had been imprisoned for claiming that the
Sun was not a god, saying it was a "red-hot stone". And he pro-
posed a theory of creation remarkably like the modern big-bang
theory. Also, he gave a correct explanation for the eclipses of the
sun. Further, there is evidence that Anaxagoras had applied geom-
etry to the study of astronomy. For this, he was imprisoned. His
progress on squaring the circle while imprisoned is unknown.

OENOPIDES OF CHIOS
(490-420 BC)

Oenopides was a geometry theorist who was the first person to set
the standard for geometric proofs to only use an unmarked ruler
(straightedge) and compass (circle) constructions. The Greeks
readily embraced this standard because in practice they applied
geometry to actual design and construction work, where one could
use ropes for both a straightedge and a compass, the same con-
struction tools that the Babylonians and Egyptians had used.

Notwithstanding this, why would Oenopides see the need of setting

this standard? One can only guess that many questionable proofs
were being made with other constructions that used diverse types
of mechanical devices. Most notably, the “neusis ruler” was em-
ployed as a practical extension of the straightedge. This was a
modified ruler with two marks on it that could be set to the desired
length. Greeks typically used the neusis ruler by having it pass
through one fixed point and having the two ruler marks lie on two
other objects (typically lines). Greeks used this device to both tri-
sect an angle and double the cube. We will see many instances of
this type of construction throughout the history of Greek geometry.
19
But theoretical purists viewed neusis rulers as lacking precision,
while the straightedge and compass constructions had an abstract
exactness. So, Oenopides wanted to outlaw arbitrary mechanical
devices from pure proofs. Both Hippocrates and Euclid shunned
neusis proofs in their Elements.

Oenopides gave some basic geometric constructions that illus-

trated the ruler and compass constructive technique, like:

PROPOSITION 1. From a given point, construct a line perpen-

dicular to a given straight line.

PROPOSITION 2. Given a straight line and a point on it, construct

a rectilinear angle equal to a given rectilinear angle.

Additionally, Oenopides introduced the distinction between a “the-

orem” meant to be a theoretical building block, and a “problem” that
is only an isolated exercise.

20
 THE EUCLIDEAN AGE

The Euclidean age (475 – 275 BC) was an age of innovation and
discovery. The three infamous geometric problems had appeared
on the stage of Greek geometry. Hippocrates was the first one
known to have studied all three. These problems inspired many in-
vestigations.

SQUARING THE CIRCLE

Construct a square that has the same area as a given circle. This
problem was inherited from ancient civilizations. Approximate solu-
tions were given in The Egyptian Rhind papyrus (1850 BC) and the
Indian Sulbasutras (800 BC). The Greeks may have known of
these previously attempted solutions.

DOUBLING THE CUBE

Construct a cube that has twice the volume of a given cube. This
problem may have originated about 430 BC, and Hippocrates made
the first major attempt to solve it, by proving that it was equivalent
to finding two intermediate means between a line length and its
double.

21
TRISECTING AN ANGLE
Trisect any given angle into three equal angles. The origin of this
problem is unknown. It likely came from the Pythagoreans who
worked on constructing regular polygons, since dividing an angle
into integer ratios would have helped them. But this problem is not
mentioned until Hippocrates studied it.

22
 ANTIPHON THE SOPHIST
(480-411 BC)

Antiphon was the first person to propose a method of

exhaustion to solve a geometric problem. In trying to
square the circle, he successively doubled the num-
ber of sides of a regular polygon inscribed in a circle
until the difference in area between the polygon and
the circle would eventually become exhausted. He
did not square the circle but did get approximations
for the area of a circle. Hippocrates also used this method. Later,
Eudoxus improved this idea when he developed his more rigorous
“method of exhaustion”.

As shown in the diagram, let

C be the center of a circle with
an inscribed square having a
side AB, so AC = BC = r is
the radius of the circle. And
the area of the square is
AB2 = 4 ΔABC. Draw the right
bisector from C to D on AB
and extend it to E on the cir-
cle. Then, replace edge AB
with the new edges AE and EB. Repeat this for every edge to con-
struct a new polygon with twice as many edges. As a result, the
polygon gets closer to the circle, and the area between them is be-
ing exhausted. Repeat this process on the newly created polygon
to get even closer to the circle, shown as CF bisecting AE to inter-
sect the circle at G, and replacing edge AE with even smaller edges
AG and GE. After repeating this process many times, the area of
the polygon will get remarkably close to the circle’s area.

23
Antiphon proved that the inscribed square covers more than half
the area of the circle, and at each step, the difference with the circle
decreases more than ½ so that after n steps the inscribed polygon
has 2n+1 edges and covers more than 1 – (1/2n) of the area of the
circle.

BRYSON OF HERACLEA
(450-390 BC)

Bryson was a contemporary of Anti-

phon and improved his method of ex-
haustion by adding a second outer pol-
ygon circumscribing the circle. His idea
was that the area of the circle had to lie
between the areas of the circumscribed
and inscribed polygons, and this would
give better approximations by having
both upper and lower bounds. Bryson
successively doubled the edges of the outer polygon, reducing the
area of the outer polygon. Continuing with this, shrinking the outer
polygon, and expanding the inner polygon, he could make the eas-
ily computable difference in area between them as small as he
wanted. Thus, the two bounds gave a close approximation for the
area of the circle. Hundreds of years later, Archimedes would use
this idea for his adaptation of Eudoxus’ method of exhaustion.

24
 HIPPOCRATES OF CHIOS
(470-410 BC)

Hippocrates may have been a student of Oe-

nopides and had some contact with the Pythagore-
ans, who were on a nearby island. He is famous for
writing the first "Elements of Geometry" as an orga-
nized geometry textbook with basic concepts, meth-
ods, and theorems. This pioneering work must have
had most of Euclid's Elements Books I and II. In his
Elements of Geometry, Hippocrates also had geometric solutions
to quadratic equations and early methods of integration. Theorems
in Hippocrates Elements included the following.

CIRCLE RATIO THEOREM

The ratio of the areas of two circles is equal to the ratio of the
squares on their diameters.

Equivalently, the ratio of the area of a circle to that of the square on

its diameter is a constant, but Hippocrates did not express it this
way. To prove this theorem, he would have used Antiphon’s ex-
haustion method, since he needed to approximate the areas of the
circles, and Antiphon was a contemporary whose work he would
have known.

Additionally, there was another piece of the puzzle that Hippocrates

needed to prove this result, namely a similar theorem for inscribed
polygons. Later, Eudoxus would use this in his exhaustion method,
and it would become Euclid’s Elements Prop XII-1.

INSCRIBED POLYGON RATIO THEOREM

Similar polygons inscribed in circles are to one another as the
squares on their diameters.

25
Proof of Polygon Ratio Theorem.

For two similar polygons inscribed in different circles, subdivide

each into similar triangles. Then, the polygon areas are in the same
ratio as the corresponding triangle areas. And the triangle areas
are in the same ratio as the square on corresponding edges. Fur-
ther, drawing diameters BM and GN, the right-angles triangles ABM
and FGN are equiangular and thus similar. So, the ratio AB / FG of
the triangle edges equals the ratio BM / GN of the diameters for
their corresponding circles. Therefore, the inscribed polygons have
the same ratio as their circle’s diameters.

Proof of Circle Ratio Theorem.

The inscribed polygon theorem implies that, for the similar se-
quences of Antiphon polygons in the two circles, at each iteration,
the two polygons are to each other as the constant ratio of their
circle’s diameters. It is natural to conclude that this constant does
not change when the polygons get close to their corresponding
circles and thus is the same ratio for the areas of the circles.

Hippocrates then used this Circle Ratio Theorem to compute the

area of a lune.

26
AREA OF A LUNE
A “lune” is a region bounded by two circular arcs. For the “Lune of
Hippocrates”, one arc is from a smaller circle whose diameter is a
chord spanning a right angle on the larger circle. Hippocrates
proved that the area of his lune is equal to the area of a constructi-
ble triangle. He was expecting that this would lead to a method for
squaring the circle, but it did not extend. However, this was the first
curved figure to have its exact area calculated mathematically.

LUNE AREA THEOREM

Draw a circle with center O
and radius OA, and draw a
perpendicular to OA intersect-
ing the circle at B. Next, draw
a smaller circle with diameter
AB. The area bounded by the
circular arcs AEB and AFB is a
lune. Then, the area of this
lune is exactly equal to the area of the triangle ΔOAB.

Proof. By construction, the diameter AC of the larger circle ABC is

√2 times the diameter AB of the smaller circle. Thus, by the Circle
Ratio Theorem, the smaller circle has half the area of the larger
circle, and the quarter-circle AFBOA equals the area of the semi-
circle AEBDA. Subtracting the crescent-shaped area AFBDA from
the quarter circle gives triangle ΔABO and subtracting the same
crescent from the semicircle AEBDA gives the lune. Thus, the re-
maining triangle and lune are both formed by subtracting the same
crescent area from equal areas, so they have equal areas.

Hippocrates went even further than this in studying lunes. He also

studied the case where the outer arc was less than a semicircle
and the case where the outer arc was greater than a semicircle. In
each case, he found another squarable lune, for a total of three.
Much later, in 1766, Wallenius found two more squarable lunes.
More recently, in the mid-20th century, two Russian

27
mathematicians, Chebotaryov and Dorodnov, showed that these
five are the only squarable lunes.

CUBE DOUBLING THEOREM

Doubling the cube is equivalent to constructing two mean propor-
tionals between a number and its double. In modern notation, for
two numbers, a and b, two mean proportionals u and v between
them satisfy a / u = u / v = v / b. Hippocrates proved that doubling
a cube is equivalent to finding u and v when b = 2a, namely when
a / u = u / v = v / 2a where a is the edge of the original cube; and
then u is the edge of a cube with twice the volume.

Proof. Using algebra, we can compute u3 =a3 (u/a)3 =

a3 (u/a) (v/u) (2a/v) = 2a3, which is twice the volume. Thus,
3
u = a √2.
3
Note that for a unit cube with a = 1, then u = √2, which is some-
3
what obvious since a cube with sides √2 has a volume of 2. But
Hippocrates never mentioned this and could not construct this cube
root anyway. Nevertheless, his theorem is a good example of re-
ducing a difficult problem to a (hopefully) equivalent simpler one.

ANGLE TRISECTION
Hippocrates studied and
knew a straightforward
method to trisect any angle.
The origin of this method is
unknown and could have
been from the Pythagoreans.
As shown in the diagram, to
trisect the angle BAC, first
drop a perpendicular CD
onto AB, and construct another perpendicular to AB at A, namely
AF = DC. Next, extend the segment FC to a point E so that the

28
intersection H of AE and CD satisfies EH = 2 AC. Then,
BAG = 1/3 BAC.

Proof. Let G = the mid-point of EH, so EG = CG = HG = AC. This

constructs isosceles triangles ΔCGE and ΔACG, whose base an-
gles are equal, so GAC = AGC = 2GEC = 2BAG since AB
and CE are parallel. Thus, BAC = BAG + GAC = BAG + 2
BAG = 3BAG.

This works great, but to find point E one must use a special neusis
ruler with two marks spaced 2 AC apart. Then, this marked neusis
ruler must pass through point A, have one mark on CD and the
other mark on CE. So, it was not a valid trisection method using the
strict rules for geometry proofs. But it was an interesting construc-
tion tool, and Greek architects and engineers often used it in prac-
tice.

29
 HIPPIAS OF ELIS
(460-400 BC)

Hippias was a contemporary of Socrates. He

was a jack-of-all-trades traveling to give lectures
for a fee on many topics: poetry, history, politics,
mathematics, etc. Plato described him as having
a wide but superficial knowledge. Nevertheless,
he made one enduring contribution to geometry
when he was trying to trisect an angle. About 420 BC, he invented
a new curve (other than only the line and circle before him), called
the Quadratrix of Hippias.

QUADRATRIX (OR TRISECTRIX) OF HIPPIAS

He used this to trisect any acute angle. He
constructed this curve inside a square
ABCD and a circular arc BD with center A
and radius AB. The radius AB then rotates
about A to move to position AD. At the
same time, the line BC moves down par-
allel to itself, also ending at AD. And both
moving lines arrive at AD at the same
time. While they are moving, the intersection point F of the rotating
radius AE and the moving parallel line JK draw the quadratrix.
Thus, BJ / BA = (arc BE) / (arc BD).

Then, with this curve, he could divide an

angle into any given ratio, say p / q. For
example, consider the angle EAD. The
line EA intersects the quadratrix at F.
Draw a perpendicular from F to H on AD.
Next, select a point P on FH that divides
it into the ratio p / q. Finally, draw a line
through P parallel to AD that intersects

30
the quadratrix at Q. Then QAD divides EAD in the desired ratio
p / q. Trisecting an angle is a special case.

This all sounds wonderful, but there are problems with this method.
Most notably, the rates of speed of the moving radius and moving
parallel line are different. Say the line AB is length 1, then the length
of arc BD is π/2. And the ratio of their speed of motion is 2/π so that
both JK and AE arrive at AD at the same time. So, one is effectively
inserting the solution into the method of construction. About 700
years later, Sporus (240-300) and Pappus (290-350) noted this dif-
ficulty. Nevertheless, one can construct individual points on the
curve by taking binary subdivisions, since one can subdivide both
angles and line segments by two. And since they would both get to
their new positions in ½ the time, a valid intersection point would
be found. Repeating this operation produces an approximation to
the quadratrix within any desired accuracy, and one can use the
method of exhaustion. Dinostratus did this to calculate point G.

The Greeks stayed interested in this curve, even though one could
not construct it exactly with a ruler and compass alone. And centu-
ries later, some Greeks would use this quadratrix to square the cir-
cle, like Dinostratus (~350 BC) and Nicomedes (~250 BC).

31
 DEMOCRITUS OF ABDERA
(460-370 BC)

Democritus wrote many mathematical works, in-

cluding On Numbers, On Geometry, On Tangen-
cies, On Mappings, and On Irrationals. These
were referred to by others, but none survived.
However, we do know that Archimedes, in his
Method, says that Democritus was the first to give
the propositions for the volume of cones and pyramids.

DEMOCRITUS CONE PROPOSITION. The volume of a cone

is one-third that of a cylinder having the same base and equal
height.

DEMOCRITUS PYRAMID PROPOSITION. The volume of a

pyramid is one-third that of a prism having the same base and equal
height.

And Democritus gave these propositions fifty years before Eudoxus

first proved them.

Additionally, Democritus was the first to have the idea of a solid

being the sum of infinitely many parallel planes intersecting it. He
used this to compute the volumes of the cone and pyramid. More
than 200 years later, Archimedes would extend this idea with his
“mechanical method”. And 2000 years later, Cavalieri would use it
for his method of indivisibles, which eventually evolved into integra-
tion for calculus.

32
 PLATO
(427-347 BC)

Plato was one of the most important Greek philos-

ophers. His works were very influential and in math-
ematics laid the foundations for Euclid's work.
Twelve years after the Greeks executed his teacher
Socrates (399 BC), Plato founded "The Academy"
in 387 BC which flourished until 529 AD. His stu-
dents there included Archytas, Aristotle, Theaetetus, and Eudoxus.
The philosophy of Plato closely followed the Pythagoreans who
taught that all things come from numerical principles. They held the
concept that form is distinct from matter and that the physical world
is an image of an eternal mathematical world. This led Plato to dis-
tinguish between pure and applied mathematics.

However, Plato was not an aloof unworldly scholar but was a man
of the world, an experienced soldier, widely traveled, with close po-
litical contacts. He wrote his views as “dialogues” (about 30 of them,
some including Socrates), on a wide variety of subjects: art, dance,
music, poetry, architecture, drama, and philosophy (ethics, meta-
physics, politics, mathematics, and religion).

THEORY OF FORMS
Plato first introduced his Theory of Forms in his book Phaedo (also
known as On the Soul). This theory denies the reality of the material
world, considering it only an image of the real world of mathematical
objects as perfect forms (such as a line having length but no
breadth). For example, in Phaedo, he says: “there is the mathemat-
ical relation of equality, and the contrast is drawn between the ab-
solute equality we think of in mathematics and the rough, approxi-
mate equality which is what we have to be content with when deal-
ing with objects of our senses.“ And in the Republic, Plato talks of
geometrical diagrams as imperfect imitations of the perfect mathe-
matical objects which they stand for.

33
Plato's Forms thus stand for types of things, as well as properties,
patterns, and relationships. Aside from being immutable, timeless,
and changeless, the Forms also supply definitions and the standard
against which one measures all instances of them. There is thus a
world of perfect, eternal, and changeless meanings, the Forms, ex-
isting in the realm of Being outside of space and time.

METHODS OF PROOF
In mathematics, Plato emphasized the idea of “proof” and insisted
on clear definitions and hypotheses. This greatly influenced Eu-
doxus’ development of his method of exhaustion, and Euclid’s or-
ganization of his Elements.

Nevertheless, there was considerable debate over the definition of

“proof” itself. The Pythagoreans were experimenting with many var-
iants of rational thinking for their proofs. This led Oenopides to stip-
ulate that a valid formal geometric proof could only use an abstract
unmarked ruler and a compass to construct perfect straight lines
and circles. The Greek mathematicians accepted this from Hippoc-
rates onward.

But many digressed from this standard. Some constructions used

a mechanical marked “neusis ruler” to solve difficult problems, like
trisecting an angle. The purists did not accept such proofs. Then,
new geometric objects were constructed directly from abstract ge-
ometric forms, notably the intersection of a plane and a cone pro-
duced the conic curves. These occurred solely in the world of pure
form. As a result, the Greeks had three levels of geometric proofs.

1. Use a straightedge and compass only.

2. Plus, use objects created purely by interactions in the abstract
space of forms, like conics.
3. Plus, use mechanical devices that exist in the material world,
like a neusis ruler.

34
The Platonic school embraced the 1st, begrudgingly accepted the
2nd, and rejected the 3rd. Of course, this did not stop many Greeks
from using all three.

PLATONIC SOLIDS
The five regular polyhedrons became known as the Platonic solids,
the forms which they thought were the foundation of the material
world. Though he did not contribute directly to their development,
his student Theaetetus was the first to study the octahedron and
the icosahedron and showed how to construct them. Together with
the three Pythagorean solids, this gave five in total, which The-
aetetus proved were the only ones that existed with regular vertices
and faces (Euclid Elements XIII, Prop 18).

In his dialogue Timaeus, Plato as-

sociated each of the natural ele-
ments (earth, air, water, and fire)
with a regular solid (cube, octahe-
dron, icosahedron, and tetrahe-
dron respectively) due to their
shape. The fifth regular solid, the
dodecahedron, was the element
which made up the heavens and
was associated with the spirit or soul.

PYTHAGOREAN TRIPLES
Plato made very few mathematical discoveries himself. But people
credit him with a method for generating Pythagorean Triples (~380
BC). Using modern algebra, it is as follows.

PLATO’S TRIPLES THEOREM

Let a be an even integer. Put b = (a / 2)2 – 1, and c = (a / 2)2 + 1.
Then (a, b, c) is a Pythagorean Triple.

35
 ARCHYTAS OF TARENTUM
(428-350 BC)

Archytas was a Pythagorean and a friend of Plato.

Eudoxus and Menaechmus were students of his. He
is the founder of mathematical mechanics and the
inventor of several mechanical devices. One was a
mechanical bird, and another was a rattle for chil-
dren which Aristotle considered useful.

Meanwhile in mathematics, he made several important contribu-

tions. He claimed that mathematics was composed of four
branches, namely arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. He
wrote a work entitled On Mathematics, for which fragments sur-
vived, and in which there is a discussion of the pitch, frequency,
and theory of sound. He studied the harmonic mean, giving it that
name.

THEORY OF PROPORTIONS

He studied proportional relationships and his work was the basis of

Euclid's Elements Book VIII. A few results of his in the Elements
were the following.

PROP VIII-12. Between c3 and d3 are two mean proportionals

c2d and cd2.

PROP VIII-23. If a / b = b / c = c / d, and a is a cube, then d is also

a cube.

36
DOUBLING A CUBE

Archytas discovered a geometric

construction to find the two mean
proportionals needed to double the
cube, which Hippocrates had
shown was equivalent. Given
a > b, to find their mean propor-
tionals, he gave a construction in
3D space. He defined three sur-
faces above a semicircle OAB with
a = OA and b = OB, and a perpen-
dicular from A intersecting OB
at C. These surfaces were a half-cylinder with base OAB, a quarter
cone from OC rotating about OA, and a partial torus from rotating
OAB to be perpendicular above OA and then rotated it about the z-
axis. Next, he found the intersection point P of these surfaces and
projected it down to N on the semicircle ABO. Then, the two mean
proportionals are OP and ON. That is OA / OP = OP / ON =
ON / OB. An amazing result!

But he did not do these constructions with a ruler and compass

alone, so Plato’s idealists did not accept his solution. Nevertheless,
Archytas did achieve this purely in the abstract space of forms with
only intersections between abstract objects. So, this level 2 method
had some merit.

37
 THEAETETUS OF ATHENS
(417-369 BC)

Theaetetus was a disciple of Socrates and a student

of Plato. He was the subject of Plato’s dialogue The-
aetetus, which included Socrates. He was an astron-
omer, philosopher, and mathematician. Theaetetus
is the creator of solid geometry. Although none of his
writing has survived, we do know a great deal about
his work since it is the basis of Euclid's Elements
Books X, XI, and XIII.

IRRATIONAL QUANTITIES
Theaetetus developed a theory of rational and irrational quantities
that is the basis for Euclid’s Elements Book X, modified to use
Eudoxus’ theory of proportions. Theaetetus work preceded
Eudoxus’ work that is given in Elements Book V. Elements Book X
is exceptionally long with 115 Propositions about 13 distinct types
of irrationals, listed in Elements Prop X-111. They include the bino-
mial, the medial, and the apotome corresponding to the arithmetic,
geometric, and harmonic means.

It is worth noting that Euclid’s Elements Prop X-29 gives a method

for generating Pythagorean Triples. The source for the result is not
known, but Theaetetus might have discovered it. That method, now
used in modern number theory, is described with more detail in the
section for Euclid.

SOLID GEOMETRY
His work influenced Elements Book XI, which defined solid geom-
etry objects and studied their properties. This includes planes, par-
allel planes, solid angles, similar solids, pyramids, prisms, spheres,
cones, cylinders, the octahedron, the icosahedron, and the dodec-
ahedron. The propositions in Book XI are results like the planar
ones in Elements Books I to IV. Many of these were from The-
aetetus.

38
PLATONIC SOLIDS
Theaetetus was the first to study the octahe-
dron and the icosahedron, and Euclid’s Ele-
ments Book XIII is completely based on his
work. Along with the tetrahedron, cube, and
dodecahedron (all known to the Pythagore-
ans), he completed the five Platonic Solids.
Theaetetus showed how to construct each
one of them inscribed in a sphere using only
a ruler and compass (Elements Book XIII, Props 13-18). And he
proved that these were the only regular polyhedrons in a short “Re-
mark” following Book XIII, Prop 18, at the very end of the Elements.

39
 EUDOXUS OF CNIDUS
(408-355 BC)

Eudoxus was regarded as the greatest mathema-

tician preceding Archimedes. Although poor, he
was a student of Archytas and Plato and spent
over a year in Egypt. He had many innovations in
astronomy and geometry.

A MODEL OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM.

Eudoxus developed the first mathematical model of the universe,

which was earth-centric. Astronomers have named craters on Mars
and the Moon after him. Eudoxus authored several books on as-
tronomy, including Disappearances of the Sun (on eclipses),
Phaenomena and Entropon (both on spherical astronomy), and
On Speeds (on planetary motions).

He used concentric spheres to model the movement of the sun,

moon, planets, and stars. He used multiple spheres for each object
to model various aspects of their movement. The sun and moon
had 3 spheres each, the first for their daily movement across the
sky. The sun had a second sphere for its changing inclination over
an annual cycle. The moon’s second sphere had a monthly cycle
for its phases. Each of the five visible planets had four spheres. The
starfield only needed 1 sphere. So, his model had 27 spheres in
total, each describing a circular orbit with its cycle.

Although at that time in history, this was a good first attempt to ex-
actly model the universe, it had shortcomings. The biggest short-
coming was that the model was earth-centered, a view taught by
Plato. One of the Pythagoreans, Aristarchus of Samos (310 - 230
BC) proposed a model that placed the Sun at the center with a he-
liocentric Universe, but the Greeks did not accept his view. After
Eudoxus, other models added even more spheres to explain anom-
alies. Aristotle, another student of Plato, expanded the earth-cen-
tered model to have a series of 53 concentric spheres rotating on
different axes. Ptolemy (85-165 AD) further developed Aristotle’s

40
model with exact spherical trigonometry computations. Ptolemy’s
astronomy persisted until the 16th century when astronomers,
notably Copernicus (~1540) and Kepler (~1600), developed a
simplified and more exact heliocentric model.

THEORY OF PROPORTIONS
This theory included both rational and irrational quantities. Eudoxus
developed this theory with the first deductive organization of math-
ematics based on explicit axioms. This work is presented in Euclid's
Elements Book V, in which Definitions 4 and 5 are the foundation
for his landmark concept of proportion.

DEFINITION 4. “Magnitudes are said to have a ratio to one an-

other which can, when multiplied, exceed one another.”

This is called the “Axiom of Eudoxus” but is now also called the
“Archimedean Property” since it was used for Axiom V of Archime-
des in his On the Sphere and Cylinder. Euclid gave a variant of this
in Elements Prop X-1 and then used it in Elements Props XII-2,18.

DEFINITION 5. “Magnitudes are said to be in the same ratio, the

first to the second and the third to the fourth when, if any equimul-
tiples whatever be taken of the first and third, and any equimultiples
whatever of the second and fourth, the former equimultiples alike
exceed, are alike equal to, or alike fall short of, the latter equimulti-
ples respectively taken in corresponding order.”

Using algebra, this says that two ratios a / b and c / d are equal if
for all pairs of integers m, n
1) If ma < nb, then mc < nd,
2) If ma = nb, then mc = nd,
3) If ma > nb, then mc > nd.

In 1872, Dedekind said that his work on "cuts" for the real number
system was inspired by these ideas of Eudoxus.

41
METHOD OF EXHAUSTION
Using his theory of proportions, Eudoxus rigorously developed his
“method of exhaustion”, first proposed by Antiphon. Later, Euclid
and Archimedes would use this method in their proofs, and it be-
came the precursor to 17th-century integral calculus.

With this method, Eudoxus rigorously proved theorems first given

by Hippocrates and Democritus. Detailed proofs of these theorems
are in Euclid’s Elements Book XII. This method proves conver-
gence of a sequence to a limit by contradiction; namely, assume
that the limit has a different value than given, and from this deduce
a contradiction. This implies that the given limit value was correct.
In these proofs, Eudoxus used a proposition that sounds a lot like
the modern definition for convergence of a sequence to a limit.

CONVERGENCE PROPOSITION.
If for two magnitudes m > n, m is reduced by more than ½, and the
remainder is also reduced by more than ½, and this is repeated,
then eventually (after k iterations) the remaining amount will be less
than n. (see: Elements Prop X-1)

Using this, Eudoxus proved the following.

CIRCLE THEOREM. The areas of circles are to one another as

the squares of their radii. (Elements Prop XII-2)

PYRAMID THEOREM The volume of a pyramid is one-third the

volume of a prism with the same base and altitude. (Elements Prop
XII-8)

CONE THEOREM The volume of a cone is one-third that of the

corresponding cylinder. (Elements Prop XII-10)

SPHERE THEOREM The volumes of spheres are to one another

as the cubes of their radii. (Elements Prop XII-18)

To illustrate how he applied this method, we summarize the proof

for the Circle Theorem. It depends on a prior result of Hippocrates
that Euclid recorded in Elements Prop XII-1.
42
INSCRIBED POLYGON THEOREM
Similar polygons inscribed in circles are to one another as the
squares on the diameters of the circles.

CIRCLE THEOREM PROOF

This is proof by contradiction. The theorem states that the areas of
two circles, C1 and C2, are in the same proportion as the squares
on their diameters, D1 and D2. We will start by assuming this is
false; that is, D1 / D2 ≠ C1 / C2. To make them equal, replace C2
with an area S so that D1 / D2 = C1 / S. There are two cases: (1)
S < C2 and (2) S > C2.

Case 1, We will construct a polygon inscribed in C2 whose area is

greater than S. First, for any polygon P inscribed in C2, we define
the “deficit of P” as dP = C2 – P, the difference of their areas. And
for any edge AB of P with A and B on the circumference of C2, the
“deficit of AB” as dAB = the area bounded by the arc AB and the
line segment AB. So, dP is the sum of the deficits for all of P’s
edges. We next construct a sequence of polygons Pn with decreas-
ing deficits. Start with P1 being an inscribed square. The area of P1
is more than ½ the area of C2, and dP1 < ½ C2. And construct a
sequence of inscribed polygons as follows. For Pn, project a bisec-
tor of each of the edges to the circumference for a new vertex and
new edges to get a new polygon Pn+1 with twice as many edges,
as originally done by Antiphon. We claim that the deficit is reduced
by more than a half, namely dPn+1 < ½ dPn. Since the deficit of the
inscribed polygon is the sum of its edge deficits, we only need to
show this for one edge.

Consider the diagram for an

edge AB of a polygon. Draw the
perpendicular bisector of AB to
cut the circle at C, making AC
and CB new edges for Pn+1. Construct the rectangle ABDE with
DE tangent to the circle at C. The Pn triangle ΔABC is half the

43
rectangle ABDE, and the deficit of dAB is less than the rectangle,
that is, ΔABC < dAB < ABDE = 2 ΔABC, and thus ΔABC > ½ dAB,
reducing the deficit by more than ½ as needed. Explicitly,
dAC + dCB < ½ dAB.

The same construction holds for the subdivision of any edge of any
Pn, and the sum of all edge deficits is the polygon deficit. Thus, by
the convergence proposition, eventually, there will be a k such that
dPk < C2 - S, and the area of Pk is greater than S.

Now, inscribe in circle C1 a polygon Q that is like Pk. By the

inscribed polygon theorem, D1 / D2 = Q / Pk. Since we assumed
that D1 / D2 = C1 / S, thus C1 / S = Q / Pk, and C1 / Q = S / Pk.
But C1 is greater than the polygon Q inscribed in it, therefore the
area S is greater than the polygon Pk. But the area of Pk is also
greater than S, which is impossible.

Case 2. We can use the same proof as case 1 by inverting the

assumed ratio to be D2 / D1 = S / C1, with S > C2. Then we replace
S / C1 with C2 / T where T is an area < C1. Now, the same reason-
ing applies, and again it gives a contradiction.

Thus, we can only conclude that D1 / D2 = C1 / C2, which is the

statement of the theorem.

44
 DINOSTRATUS
(390-320 BC)

Dinostratus was the brother of Menaechmus, who was a pupil of

Eudoxus. He used the quadratrix of Hippias to square the circle.
Because of this, the curve is often called the “Quadratrix of Dino-
stratus” when squaring the circle, and the “Trisectrix of Hippias”
when trisecting an angle.

QUADRATRIX OF HIPPIAS
Hippias discovered this curve and used it to cut an angle into any
ratio, including trisection.

DEFINITION. In the diagram, ABCD is a

square, and arc BD = BED is a circular arc
with center A. Then a point F on the curve
BFG is given by the intersection of a seg-
ment JK parallel to AD and radius line AE,
where: BJ / BA = (arc BE) / (arc BD). This
defines the “quadratrix of Hippias”.

One can construct individual points on the curve using binary sub-
division. Given a point F on BG, starting with B, subdivide by 2 ei-
ther BJ and angle BAE or JA and angle EAD to get another point F
on BG. Repeating this binary procedure, one can get a dense set
of points on BG, and a sequence approaching G. But the point G
itself is not constructable, since both JK and AE would then coin-
cide with AD. So, computations using G necessarily involve an ap-
proximation.

DINOSTRATUS THEOREM
Let BG be the quadratrix of Hippias in ABCD, then:
(arc BD) / AB = AB / AG = AD / AG.

45
[Note. Expressed using π, which the Greeks did not have until
Archimedes, we know that (arc BD) = (π AB) / 2, and this theorem
then states that: AD / AG= π / 2.

Proof. Dinostratus knew Eudoxus and used his method of exhaus-

tion. Suppose that AG does not satisfy the stated ratio. Then, there
would be another point K on AD that would satisfy it. Either K > G
or K < G. In both cases, there is a contradiction, and thus K = G.

Case 1. Assume K > G. Draw a circle with

center A and radius AK, and let it cut BG at
F and AB at L. Draw line AF to cut BD at E.
Draw FH perpendicular to AD. Then,
(arc BD) / AB = AB / AK =
(arc BD) / (arc LK), by the circle ratio the-
orem. And thus, AB = (arc LK). Also, from
the quadratrix definition, AB / FH = (arc
BD) / (arc ED) = (arc LK) / (arc FK). This
implies that FH = (arc FK), which is absurd.

Case 2. Assume K < G. Draw a circle

with center A and radius AK and let it cut
BA at L. Draw KF perpendicular to AD
cutting BG at F. Join AF and extend to
cut BD at E. As in Case 1, AB = (arc LK).
And, from the quadratrix definition,
AB / FK = (arc BD) / (arc ED) =
(arc LK) / (arc MK). This implies that
FK = (arc KM), which is absurd.

Thus, K is neither less than nor greater than G, so K = G.

46
SQUARE THE CIRCLE
With his theorem, Dinostratus was
able to square the circle. Let
r = the radius of the circle, then
AG = 2r / π. Draw GH perpendicu-
lar to AD with length r. And draw
AH extended to meet CD extended
at J. Next, extend AD to L so that
DL = r/2, and form the rectangle
DJKL. Then, the area of DJKL is
equal to the area of the circular
quadrant ABDA.

Proof. In triangle ΔADJ, apply Tha-

les intercept theorem to GH to get
DJ = πr / 2. Thus, the area of rec-
tangle DJKL is πr2/4, which is the area of the circular quadrant.

Finally, one squares this rectangle with a known method, like those
in Euclid's Elements (Book II-14 or Book VI-17). For the complete
circle, simply paste together four of these quadrant squares.

47
 MENAECHMUS
(380-320 BC)

Menaechmus was a student of Archytas and

Eudoxus. He discovered the conic sections and
was the first to show how to get ellipses, parabolas,
and hyperbolas by cutting a cone with a plane not
parallel to the base.

And using conics, he constructed the two mean

proportionals needed to double the cube. He did this with geometric
constructions and had no equations for his new curves. But for us,
it is easy to see his method with algebra.

For numbers a and b, the mean proportionals x and y between

them satisfy a / x = x / y = y / b, giving:

Conic 1) a / x = x / y implies x2 = ay, a parabola

Conic 2) a / x = y / b implies xy = ab, a hyperbola

Conic 3) x / y = y / b implies y2 = bx, a parabola

With these three conic curves, he gave two methods to find

x and y.

Method A) find the intersection point P of

the Conic 1 parabola and the Conic 2
hyperbola.

Method B) find the intersection point P of

the two parabolas: Conic 1, and Conic 3.

Whatever method one picks, the solution

of the two conic equations is x3 = a2b, a
cubic equation. And putting b = 2a, which is the condition for dou-
3
bling the cube, the solution is x = a √2. So again, constructing the
3
length √2 is equivalent to doubling the cube. But the Greeks could

48
not construct this cube root with only a ruler and compass. So, like
Archytas, Menaechmus needed to use a mechanical device to
draw these conic curves and find their nonzero intersection point.
Again, this solution was not acceptable to Plato’s idealists. But, like
Archytas, this solution was in the abstract space of forms using only
intersections between abstract objects. Again, this level 2 proof had
some merit.

49
 ARISTAEUS THE ELDER
(370-300 BC)

Aristaeus was a Greek mathematician who worked on conic sec-

tions and was a contemporary of Menaechmus and Euclid. About
200 years later, Apollonius extended the work of both Aristaeus and
Euclid on conics, making their work obsolete.

Pappus gave Aristaeus credit for a work entitled Five Books con-
cerning Solid Loci, or just Solid Loci, which has not survived. From
Pappus, we know that Euclid wrote Elements of Conics as a com-
plement to Solid Loci. Euclid’s work was more basic and intended
as a prelude to understanding Aristaeus.

THE 3-LINE AND 4-LINE LOCUS

Based on Pappus, Heath guessed the possible contents of Solid
Loci, saying “It would deal with new locus theorems not implied in
the fundamental definitions and properties of the conics, such as ...
the theorems of the three- and four-line locus.” This is a supposition
that may be credible, as suggested by the title Solid Loci.

DEFINITION. If from a given point, one draws arbitrary lines a, b, c

(or a, b, c, d) to meet at given angles with three (or four) given
straight lines, and if ac / b2 (or ac / bd) is a given fixed value. Then
the locus of the point lies on a conic section.

THE 3-LINE LOCUS

A conic curve is a locus given by any two of its tangents that inter-
sect, and the line joining their contact points.

Aristaeus may have conjectured this, but Apollonius said that the
mathematics to prove this result did not exist before him. Then, in
his Conics, Apollonius proved this in Prop III-54.

THE 4-LINE LOCUS

A conic curve is a locus given by the four edges of an inscribed
quadrilateral.

50
Apollonius did not prove this directly, but in the translation of Conics
by Taliaferro, there is an Appendix A proving that the 4-line locus
construction follows at once from the 3-line locus.

THE FOCUS-DIRECTRIX PROPERTY

DEFINITION. The focus-directrix property of a conic curve says
that it is the locus of a point P whose distance from a fixed focus
point is a fixed multiple e > 0 (its eccentricity) of its distance from a
fixed line (the directrix). If e = 1, the curve is a parabola. If e < 1, it
is an ellipse. And if e > 1, it is a hyperbola.

Heath credits Aristaeus as the discoverer of the focus-directrix

property in Solid Loci, saying

“But one ordinary property, the focus directrix property, was … in

all probability included.”

Some historians do not agree with Heath. Neither Euclid nor Archi-
medes mention this property, or any construction at all using a fo-
cus and a directrix. And Apollonius never mentions or proves this
basic (but non-obvious) focus-directrix property in his Conics. Such
considerations have resulted in credit going to Diocles, a younger
contemporary of Apollonius, with the discovery of this construction
in his treatise On Burning Mirrors. We will not pursue this further
here and will discuss it when we get to the work Diocles, 200 years
later.

REGULAR SOLIDS
There is a reference to Aristaeus in the works of Hypsicles where
he refers to Aristaeus as the author of a book Concerning the Com-
parison of Five Regular Solids. And that in it, Aristaeus proved that
the same circle circumscribes both the pentagon face of the dodec-
ahedron and the triangle face of the icosahedron inscribed in the
same sphere.

51
 EUDEMUS OF RHODES
(350-290 BC)

Although Eudemus was not a major mathemati-

cian, he played a significant role as the first major
historian of mathematics and wrote the sole history
of Greek geometry before Euclid. He was a student
of Aristotle, whose work he edited to make it more
easily accessible. At the insistence of Aristotle,
Eudemus wrote histories of Greek mathematics
and astronomy, but only fragments have survived in the works of
later authors. His major histories were on arithmetic, geometry, and
astronomy, each of which was two or more Books. In his historical
writings, Eudemus showed how the practical knowledge and skills
of earlier peoples such as the Egyptians and the Babylonians were
given a theoretical basis by the Greeks.

HISTORY OF ARITHMETIC
We know of this work from a reference by Porphyry (300 AD) telling
us that this history dealt with the Pythagorean’s discovery that
musical intervals relate to integer numbers.

HISTORY OF GEOMETRY
This is the most important of Eudemus’ mathematical histories. In
it, he recorded the history of Greek mathematics for the 300 years
before Euclid. It is only because of him that we know the work of
Thales, Hippocrates, Eudoxus, and many others. For example, the
work of Hippocrates on the quadrature of lunes is only known to us
through this work of Eudemus.

Although the original of this work has not survived, it was available
to many later writers who made heavy use of it, including Pappus
(~350 AD), Proclus (~450 AD), and Simplicius (~550 AD). Some
say that Pappus had a copy of Eudemus’ History of Geometry to
consult when he wrote his Collection. So, much of Eudemus’
knowledge has reached us, even though his book has not.

52
HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY
Much of the information in this work has survived since later writers
used it heavily. Eudemus described Thales’ eclipse prediction and
Eudoxus’ solar system model of concentric spheres. Ptolemy
(~150 AD) had access to this when he wrote his Almagest.

53
 EUCLID OF ALEXANDRIA
(325-265 BC)

Euclid is best known for his 13 Book treatise

The Elements (~300 BC), which collected the the-
orems of Thales, Pythagoras, Hippocrates,
Democritus, Archytas, Theaetetus, Eudoxus,
Menaechmus, and others into a logically con-
nected whole with rigorous proofs derived from
basic definitions and axioms. This united most
Greek number theory and geometry that was known at the time,
with some exceptions, such as the conics and other exotic curves.
And his Elements influenced how schools have taught mathematics
for more than 2000 years. Nevertheless, little is known about Euclid
himself other than he was a student of Plato, taught at Alexandria
in Egypt, and was an elder contemporary of young Archimedes.

In addition to his Elements, Euclid also wrote other works on per-

spective, conic sections, spherical geometry, and number theory.
Some books survived but others have been lost. The sheer immen-
sity of all his work, especially The Elements, has led some to con-
jecture that he had a team of mathematicians working for him to
produce these works, though there is no direct evidence to support
this.

Irrespective, his masterpiece was The Elements, which is a com-

prehensive collection of geometric knowledge. And it also includes
many results about number theory. The Elements starts with a few
definitions, five axioms, and some commonsense notions, from
which all else follows. Here is a summary of the contents in each
Book of The Elements, with some of their major Propositions.

THE ELEMENTS BOOKS I-VI: PLANE GEOMETRY

BOOK I the basics.
DEFINITIONS (23) for point, line, angle, circle, triangle, etc.
POSTULATES (5 axioms) including the famous axiom 5 for
parallel lines.
54
 AXIOM 5. If a straight line falling on two straight lines makes
the interior angles on the same side less than two right angles,
the two straight lines, if produced indefinitely, meet on that side on
which are the angles less than the two right angles.
COMMON NOTIONS (5) like: If equals are added to equals,
then the wholes are equal.
PROPOSITIONS (48) constructions and properties for
geometric objects, like
PROP 32. The sum of the three interior angles in a triangle
equals two right angles.
PROP 47-48. The Pythagorean theorem.

BOOK II – gives relationships for the areas of various rectangular

objects
PROP 6. For four points ABCD on a line with AB = BC, then
(AD)(CD) + BC2 = BD2.
PROP 11. Cut a line in the golden ratio.
PROPS 12-13. A pre-trigonometry version of the law of
cosines.
PROP 14. Construct a square with the same area as a given
rectangle.

BOOK III studies the properties of circles and angles.

PROP 20. For a circular arc, the angle at
the center is double the angle at the circumfer-
ence.
PROP 21. In a circle the angles in the same
segment equal one another.
PROP 22. The sum of the opposite angles
of quadrilaterals in circles equals two right angles.
PROP 31. Thales Theorem. In a circle, the inscribed angle
with a diameter as its base is a right angle.
PROP 35. If in a circle two straight lines cut one another, then
the rectangle contained by the segments of the one equals the
rectangle contained by the segments of the other.

55
 PROP 36. If from a point outside a circle,
two lines are drawn to the circle, and one of
them cuts the circle and the other is tangent
to it, then the rectangle contained by the
whole line cutting the circle and the outside
segment between the point and the circle
equals the square on the tangent.

BOOK IV is about constructions of regular

polygons.
It gives constructions for inscribing or circumscribing a specific
polygon (triangle, square, pentagon, hexagon, 15-gon) inside or
around a given circle.

BOOK V presents the work of Eudoxus on proportion applied to

magnitudes.
PROPS 1-6. Multiplication of numbers with magnitudes is dis-
tributive and associative.
PROP 12. If x1 / y1 = x2 / y2 = ... = xn / yn, then each of these
ratios also equals the ratio (x1 + x2 + ... + xn) / (y1 + y2 + ... + yn).
PROP 18. If w / x = y / z, then (w + x) / x =( y +z) / z.

BOOK VI gives applications of Book V to plane geometry, espe-

cially similar figures.
PROP 2. Thales Intercept Theorem.
PROP 8. If in a right-angled triangle, one draws a perpendicu-
lar from the right angle to the base, then the straight line so drawn
is a mean proportional between the segments of the base.
PROP 17. Construct a square with the same area as a given
rectangle.
PROP 19. The ratio of similar triangles equals the square of
the ratio of the similar sides.
PROP 20. The ratio of similar polygons equals the square of
the ratio of their similar sides.

56
 PROP 31. Generalized Pythagorean Theo-
rem. For a right-angled triangle, a figure (trian-
gle, rectangle, or polygon) on the side opposite
the right angle equals the sum of the similar
figures on the sides of the right angle.

THE ELEMENTS BOOKS VII-X: NUMBER THEORY

These Books include perfect and prime numbers, prime factoriza-
tions, greatest common divisors, and Pythagorean Triples.

BOOK VII is an introduction to number theory

PROP 1. The Euclidean Algorithm to decide if two numbers
are relatively prime.
PROP 2. Find the greatest common divisor of two numbers.
PROP 34. Find the least common multiple of two numbers.

BOOK VIII studies proportional relationships. This Book is mostly

the work of Archytas.
PROP 12. Between cubes c3 and d3 there are two mean pro-
portionals c2d and cd2. And the ratio c3 / d3 is the cube of the
ratio c / d.

BOOK IX gives many numeric constructions.

PROP 36. How to get the sum of a geometric progression.
PROP 36. If 2p–1 is a prime number, then (2p–1)2p-1 is a “per-
fect number”, which equals the sum of its divisors. [Note. When
(2p–1) is a prime, we now call it a “Mersenne prime”.]

BOOK X is mainly based on the work of Theaetetus about

irrational numbers with modifications to use Eudoxus’ definition of
proportion.
PROP 1. Eudoxus’ method of exhaustion. [see below]
PROP 29, LEMMA 1. A numeric method for generating Py-
thagorean Triples. [see below]

57
THE ELEMENTS BOOKS XI-XIII: THREE-DIMEN-
SIONAL GEOMETRY
BOOK XI gives basic definitions of 3D solids and results like the
2D ones in Books 1 to 4.
PROP 11. Draw a straight line perpendicular to a given plane
from a given elevated point.
PROP 32. Parallelepipedal solids with the same height are to
one another as their bases.

BOOK XII applies Eudoxus’ method of exhaustion to study the

areas and volumes of circles, prisms, cones, and spheres.
PROP 1. The areas of two similar polygons inscribed in two
circles are to each other as the squares on the circle diameters.
PROP 2. Hippocrates Theorem. Circles are to each other as
the squares on their diameters.
PROP 7. Any pyramid is a third part of the prism with the same
base and equal height.
PROP 10. A cone’s volume is one-third that of a cylinder with
the same base and height.
PROP 17 COROLLARY. Similar polyhedrons inscribed in
spheres are to each other as the cubes on their diameters.
PROP 18. Spheres are to one another as the cubes on their
diameters.

BOOK XIII presents the work of Theaetetus about the five regular
“Platonic” solids
PROPS 10. If a regular pentagon is inscribed in a circle, then
the square on the side of it equals the sum of the squares on the
sides of a regular hexagon and decagon inscribed in the same
circle.
PROPS 13-17. Constructs the five regular polyhedrons (tetra-
hedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron)
inscribed in a sphere.
PROPS 18. Compares these polyhedrons, and proves they
are the only regular solids.

58
METHOD OF EXHAUSTION
Euclid used the method of exhaustion developed by Eudoxus and
includes the following in his Elements.

BOOK V DEFINITION 4. (Axiom of Eudoxus) Magnitudes have a

ratio to one another, if they can, when multiplied, exceed one
another.

BOOK X PROP 1. If for two magnitudes m > n, one reduces m by

more than ½, and then reduces the remainder again by more than
½, and continues to repeat this, then eventually (after k iterations)
the remaining amount will be less than n.

This is the critical property needed for the proof by the method of
exhaustion and Euclid uses it in Book XII, for circles in Prop XII-2,
cones in Prop XII-10, and spheres in Prop XII-18. These proofs
were directly from Eudoxus.

PYTHAGOREAN TRIPLES
It is interesting that in The Elements Euclid included a method,
Prop X-29 Lemma 1, to generate Pythagorean triples that is now
the fundamental formula used in modern number theory. With
algebra, one can express it as follows.

EUCLID’S PYTHAGOREAN TRIPLES THEOREM.

Let m and n be any pair of integers with m > n > 0. Put
a = m2 – n2, b = 2mn, c = m2 + n2.
Then, (a, b, c) is a Pythagorean Triple.

Today, we know that this triple is “primitive” (that is, a, b, and c have
no common divisor > 1) if and only if m and n are coprime and not
both odd. And amazingly, it has recently been proven that these
formulas generate all primitive Pythagorean triples (Mitchell, 2001).

59
OTHER WORKS OF EUCLID
In addition to The Elements, Euclid also wrote many other works.
Some have survived and some were lost. Lost works, that we know
of from references by others include his Conics (about conic sec-
tions, later rewritten and extended by Apollonius), Porisms,
Pseudaria (or Book of Fallacies), and Surface Loci. The ones that
survived are the following.

DATA
looks at what properties of figures one can infer from other given
properties.

ON DIVISIONS OF FIGURES
looks at constructions to divide a figure into two parts with areas of
a given ratio.

CATOPTRICS
covers the mathematical theory of mirrors, particularly the images
formed by plane and spherical concave mirrors.
….PROP 19 . For plane mirrors the right parts appear left and the
left parts right and the image is equal to the thing seen, and the
distance from the mirror is equal.
….PROP 30. Concave mirrors positioned towards the sun will
ignite a fire.

PHAENOMENA
is an elementary introduction to mathematical astronomy.

OPTICS
is the first Greek work on a theory of visual perception and perspec-
tive. Euclid assumed that the eye sees objects that are within its
visual cone, which consists of discrete visual rays extending as
straight lines outward from the eye. And things seen under a larger
angle appear larger, and those under a smaller angle appear
smaller. And the closer an object, the more visual rays fall upon it
and the more detailed or sharp it appears.

60
 THE ARCHIMEDEAN
AGE

By 280 BC, Euclid had wrapped up one age of geometry with his
compendium of the most important theorems known up to that time.
That age focused on proofs that exclusively used ruler and com-
pass constructions, excluding a lot of geometry with esoteric curves
that one could not construct that way. This included notably the
conics that were related to a plane intersecting a cone; namely, el-
lipses, parabolas, and hyperbolas. That age also excluded non-
standard methods of proofs, such as integration methods, special
rulers, and mechanically generated curves.

The following age, starting with Archimedes, broke away from

these restrictions with adventurous innovations. He introduced new
techniques and opened a new universe of geometric discovery, as
well as applying it to physics.

61
 ARCHIMEDES OF SYRACUSE
(287-212 BC)

Archimedes is regarded as the greatest of Greek

mathematicians. He also advanced physics and
was the inventor of basic mechanical devices, in-
cluding the screw and pulley. In physics, although
he was not the inventor of the lever whose usage
goes back to 5000BC, he formulated the mathe-
matical Law of the Lever relating the fulcrum point
to the balancing of different weights. And he used this law in some
of his mathematical proofs to compare the areas and volumes of
various objects. In his treatise On the Equilibrium of Planes (2
Books), he set out fundamental principles of mechanics, using the
methods of geometry, and proved many fundamental theorems
concerning levers and the center of gravity of plane figures.

Further in physics, he famously discovered that the volume of an

irregular solid (such as the king’s gold crown) was equal to the vol-
ume of water it displaced after submerging it. This was his “Eureka”
moment, which he shouted as he jumped out of his overflowing
bathtub and ran down the street naked.

In pure geometry, Archimedes frequently used Eudoxus’ method of

exhaustion, with which he derived many results, including approxi-
mations to π and square roots, and he perfected integration to find
the areas and volumes of many objects. Adapted from Bryson,
Archimedes used circumscribed and inscribed polygons to get
upper and lower bounds for areas and volumes.

62
SPHERES, CYLINDERS, AND CIRCLES
In his treatise On the Sphere and Cylinder Archimedes rigorously
proved some well-known theorems.

CONE VOLUME The volume of a cone is 1/3 the volume of its

circumscribed cylinder,

SPHERE VOLUME The volume of a sphere is

2/3 the volume of its circumscribed cylinder. He
considered this his greatest theorem and re-
quested to have a picture of it inscribed on his
tomb.

VOLUME RATIOS Thus, the volumes of a cone and sphere in-

scribed in a cylinder are in the ratio 1:2:3. And,

Volume(cone) + Volume(sphere) = Volume(cylinder).

SPHERE SURFACE AREA The surface area of a sphere is 2/3

the surface area of its circumscribed cylinder (including the top and
bottom circle areas).

Further, in On the Sphere and Cylinder and Measurement of a Cir-

cle, Archimedes was the first to prove there is a common constant
that relates measurements of circles and spheres to their diame-
ters. Specifically, let a circle have circumference C and area A, and
a sphere have surface area S and volume V. And for both the circle
and the sphere, let d be their diameter, and r = d/2 be their radius.
Then, the following ratios are all equal.

C A S 6V
= 2= 2= 3
d r d d
This irrational value was called the “Archimedes’ constant”, but we
now call it π, a usage started by William Jones (1706) and popular-
ized by Euler (1736). Before Archimedes, the Greeks had only
shown that A/d2 and V/d3 are constant but did not relate them to a

63
common constant. And they had not even mentioned a similar
result for C/d.

Further, Archimedes gave upper and lower bounds for this constant
by inscribing and circumscribing a circle with polygons having 96
sides. His result was that 22/7 = 3.14286 > π > 223/71 = 3.14085.
He changed the method of Antiphon and Bryson in several ways
that simplified the computations. First, he focused on the polygon
perimeters instead of their areas, so that he approximated the
circle's circumference instead of the area. Second, he started with
inscribed and circumscribed hexagons and then doubled the sides
four times to finish with two 96-sided polygons. At the nth step, each
polygon had E = 3(2n) edges, and he computed the outer and inner
edge lengths solely from the preceding step. After the last step (n=5
for Archimedes), the outer and inner perimeters had 96 edges, for
which he computed the upper 22/7 and lower 223/71 bounds for π.

SPIRALS
In On Spirals, Archimedes studied the fundamental properties of a
spiral that is now called the "Archimedean spiral”. Conon, a lifelong
friend with whom he corresponded, had discovered this spiral. In
the introduction to On Spirals, Archimedes said that Conon was an
extraordinary mathematician who died before he could fully inves-
tigate it. This spiral connects radius lengths and angles with the
modern algebraic polar coordinate equation: r = a θ, where a is the
constant rate that the spiral moves away from the origin. This is yet
another exotic curve that is not constructable with the ruler and
compass. For it, Archimedes proved results about tangents and
areas for portions of it. He also showed how his spiral could trisect
an angle and square a circle.

64
ANGLE TRISECTION

METHOD 1 USING THE ARCHIMEDEAN SPIRAL

The diagram shows his method to trisect
an angle ABC, shown with B at the
origin, and C is the intersection with the
spiral. First trisect the line BC at D so
BD = BC/3, draw the circle with radius
BD, and let it intersect the spiral at E.
Then, the angle ABE trisects ABC.

Proof. Let θ1 = ABC and θ2 = ABE.

Then from the equation, a θ2 = BE = BD = BC / 3 = a θ1 / 3. Thus,
θ2 = θ1 /3.

METHOD 2 USING A NEUSIS RULER

Later, in his Book of Lemmas
(Prop 8), Archimedes described
another way to trisect an angle. Of
all known trisection methods, this
is the simplest one. First, draw a
circle with center B, and cutting
the angle sides at A and C. To tri-
sect ABC, we use a special ruler with 2 marks on it that are dis-
tance AB apart. Then, place this ruler so that it passes through C
and the two marks lie on the circle at D and the extended line AB
at E. Draw the lines CE and BD. Then, angle DBE = 1/3 ABC.

Proof., We have BC = BD = DE, so the triangles ΔCBD and ΔBDE

are isosceles. Let θ1 = ABC, θ2 = BCD = BDC, and
θ3 = DBE = DEB. Since BDC is an exterior angle for ΔBDE,
we have θ2 = 2θ3. And the sum of the angles for ΔCBD is
π = CBD + 2θ2 = CBD + 4θ3. Also, ABE is a straight line, so the
65
angles at B sum to π = θ1 + CBD + θ3. Equating these,
CBD + 4θ3 = θ1 + CBD + θ3, and thus 3θ3 = θ1.

ARCHIMEDEAN POLYHEDRONS
Archimedes discovered the 13 semi-regular
polyhedrons which are the convex polyhedrons
whose faces are all regular polygons meeting
in identical vertices. They have complicated
long names, like the one shown here is a “great
rhombicosidodecahedron” whose faces are
squares, hexagons, and decagons.

QUADRATURE OF THE PARABOLA

The Quadrature of the Parabola was a treatise with propositions
about parabolas. In it, he proved that the area enclosed by a
parabola and any secant AB is
4/3 times the area of the
inscribed triangle ΔABC with AB
as its base and the third vertex C
at the point where the parabola’s
tangent is parallel to AB. He
called C the “vertex” of the se-
cant AB.

Proof. He gave two proofs. The first, in Prop 17, used his “mechan-
ical method”. The second, in Prop 24, was purely geometric and
used the method of exhaustion, which we summarize here. Starting
with ΔABC (with C the vertex of AB), he constructed new triangles,
namely ΔACD on AC with vertex D and ΔBCE on BC with vertex E.
In Prop 21, he proved that these new triangles each have an area
that is 1/8 that of ΔABC. Next, he successively applied this con-
struction to the new secants AD, DC, CE, EB. The sum of the areas
for all successive triangles was approaching P = the area of the
parabola cut off by the secant AB. Setting T = Area(ΔABC), we

66
get P = T + 2(1/8)T + 4(1/64)T + … = T(1 + 1/4 + 1/16 + …) =
T(1 + 1/3) = (4/3)T.

This was the most sophisticated use of the method of exhaustion

in Greek mathematics, including the first successful evaluation of
an infinite geometric series, and was unsurpassed until 17th-century
calculus.

THE MECHANICAL METHOD

Finally, there is the amazing “mechani-
cal method” that Archimedes invented
to integrate “indivisibles”, which fore-
shadowed the 17th-century develop-
ment of integration. He had recorded
this method in his Quadrature of the Pa-
rabola, but nowhere else. It is highly
likely that, in the 17th-century, Cavalieri
had access to that work, since he had
worked on the integration of indivisibles
to compute areas bounded by a parab-
ola and the Archimedean spiral. But
17th-century mathematicians did not
know about Archimedes’ mechanical method in general since he
mostly used that method to discover new geometric facts, which he
then rigorously proved using the exhaustion method. His only man-
uscript, the Method of Mechanical Theorems, describing his
method for solving many integration problems was completely lost
until a copy resurfaced in 1906, in a palimpsest that had been over-
written by 13th-century monks. Then, after restoration, this palimp-
sest disappeared again until 1998 when it appeared at a public
auction in New York. This is the famous “Archimedes Palimpsest”.
The new anonymous owner has allowed scientists to study and
photograph this 174-page book.

Briefly, his mechanical method deconstructed a geometric planar

region (or 3D volume) by intersecting it with a continuum of indivisi-
ble lines (or planes) and then reassembling (integrating) the
67
collection of all these intersections into a concentrated weight at
one end of a lever for comparison with another weighted object (of-
ten represented by its center of mass) at the other end of the lever.
This is like Cavalieri’s method of indivisibles (1627). In the palimp-
sest, Archimedes gave proofs for many propositions using this
method. These results appear in other manuscripts of his, but he
discovered them with his mechanical method, including:

1. The area under the parabola x2 over [0,1] is 1/3.

2. The area bounded by a parabola and a secant line

3. The volume of a sphere

4. The surface area of a sphere

5. The volume of the intersection of two cylinders at right angles

6. The center of mass of a hemisphere is 5/8 of the way from the

pole to the sphere center.

68
 NICOMEDES
(280-210 BC)

Nicomedes was a Greek mathematician famous

for his creation of the conchoid curve in his trea-
tise On Conchoid Lines. He used this conchoid
to solve the classic problems to trisect any angle
and double any cube.

Nicomedes constructed his con-

choid with a fixed-point O (the
“pole”), a straight-line m (the “direct-
rix”), and a fixed-length k (the “ra-
dius”). Then, for any line through the
pole O and intersecting m at M, se-
lect the two points C1 and C2 on the
extended line OM that are distance
k from M. As M moves along the
directrix m, the locus of these points
define the outer (C1) and inner (C2)
conchoid curves. Let OQ be the per-
pendicular from O to m and extend
it to conchoid points P and R with
QP = QR = k, which are the extreme points of the conchoid on the
OQ axis. If k > OQ, there is a loop on the inner conchoid, if k = OQ,
there is a cusp at O, and if k < OQ the inner conchoid is a simple
smooth curve. One can draw this curve using a special “neusis
ruler” with two marks on it that are dis-
tance k apart. Then, keeping this ruler
passing through the point O, when one
mark moves along the line m, and the
other mark draws the curve. A simple me-
chanical device can do this. Before
Nicomedes, Hippocrates, and Archimedes had also used this type
of neusis ruler for trisecting an angle.

69
The conchoid equation with pole = (0,0) and directrix x = a, is
(x – a)2 (x2 + y2) = k2x2.

To solve the angle trisection and cube doubling problems, the only
property of this conchoid that we need is the following.

THE LEMMA OF NICOMEDES

Given two straight lines m and n that
meet in an angle, and a point P outside
the angle, one can draw a line through
P cutting m and n so that the segment
MN intercepted between m and n has a
given length k.

Proof. Construct a conchoid curve C

with P as the pole, the line closest to P
(say m) as the directrix, and with k as the radius. Let this curve
intersect the other line n at point N, and PN intersect the line m
at M. Then the segment MN between m and n has length k.

This segment MN between m and n exists and is unique. We do not

have to draw the whole conchoid curve to find M and N. Instead,
we can take a neusis ruler with two marks k distance apart, and
have it pass through O while moving one mark along m until the
other mark is on n. Then the mark on n is the intersection point N
on the conchoid C.

70
TRISECTING AN ANGLE
One can use the con-
choid curve to trisect any
acute angle AOB. Pick
the angle’s vertex O to
be the pole of a conchoid
that we are going to con-
struct. Pick any point D
on the line between O
and A and draw a line m
through D that is perpen-
dicular to OA. The line m
will be the directrix of the conchoid we will construct. Let line m
intersect OB at L. And let the conchoid radius be k = 2 OL. We
have now defined the conchoid. Next, draw a line n through L that
is perpendicular to the line m, and thus is parallel to OA. Intersect n
with the conchoid at N. This point can be found by applying
Nicomedes’ Lemma to lines m and n, pole O, and radius k. Then,
AON trisects AOB.

Proof. Let point M be the intersection point of ON with line m. Let P

be the midpoint of MN. Since ΔLMN is a right-angled triangle, we
have PL = PN, and OL = ½ MN = PN = PL by the construction.
Both ΔOLP and ΔLPN are isosceles triangles, so NOB = POL =
OPL = PLN + PNL = 2PNL = 2AON, since AON = ONL
for parallel lines. Thus, AOB = AON + NOB = 3AON.

71
DOUBLING THE CUBE
Additionally, Nicomedes used his conchoid to double the cube, by
finding two mean proportionals between two lengths. Many other
geometers (Philon, Apollonius, Heron, and Pappus) used the sec-
ond half of Nicomedes’ construction in the second half of their con-
structions to double the cube. So, we are extracting that logic as a
separate lemma, and generalizing it to a parallelogram.

MEAN PROPORTIONALS LEMMA

Let ABCD be a parallelogram with
AB not equal to BC. Draw a line
through D and outside of ABCD that
cuts BC extended at F and BA ex-
tended at G. If CF / AG = BG / BF,
then CF and AG are the two mean
proportionals between AB and BC
satisfying AB / CF = CF / AG = AG / BC. Since these values exist
and are unique, a line FDG with the required condition uniquely
exists.

Proof. We will show that all the terms in the proportional equation
are equal to BG / BF. The middle term CF / AG is the assumed
condition. With parallelogram equalities and triangle similarities, we
have AB / CF = CD / CF = BG / BF, and AG / BC = AG / AD =
BG / BF. Putting the equal pieces together, we get
AB / CF = CF / AG = AG / BC.

DEFINITION Given a parallelogram ABCD, the Nicomedes line is

the line FDG satisfying the Mean Proportionals Lemma.

72
NICOMEDES MEAN PROPORTIONALS THEOREM
Let AB and BG be two seg-
ments for which we want to
find mean proportionals. Put
AB and BG as the sides of a
rectangle ABGL. Bisect AB
at D and BC at E. And draw
the line through LD to intersect
the line GB extended at H.
Now, draw EZ perpendicular
to BG such that GZ = AD.
Join HZ and draw a line m
through G that is parallel
to HZ. Let n be the line extend-
ing BG. Now, apply the
Lemma of Nicomedes with point Z (the pole) outside the angle be-
tween lines m and n meeting at G, with m the directrix, and the
radius k = AD. This gives us a line ZQK with the point Q on m and
the point K on n with QK = AD. Finally, draw the line KL extended
to intersect BA extended at point M. Then, MA and GK are the
mean proportionals. That is AB / GK = GK / MA = MA / BG.

Proof. (adapted from Pappus Synagoge Book IV-29, transcribed

from Nicomedes On Conchoid Lines.) Algebra simplifies the proof,
using the variables shown in the diagram. We give the proof in
stages. At the start, we know a, b, and c, whose assignments to
segments are shown. The lengths u = AM, v = GK, and w = ZQ
are unknown. Then,

(1) For the line of points BEGK, Euclid II-6 gives

(BK)(GK) + GE2 = EK2, which is (2b+v)v + b2 = (b+v)2. Adding c2
to both sides and applying the Pythagorean Theorem for
b2 + c2 = a2 and (b+v)2 + c2 = (w + a)2, and substituting one gets
(2b+v)v + a2 = (w + a)2, which is (BK)(GK) + GZ2 = ZK2.

73
(2) We now show that MD = ZK. Triangle similarities give
MA / AB = ML / LK = BG / GK, so u / 2a = 2b / v. Multiply both
sides by 2, and simplify to get MA / AD = u / a = 4b / v = HG / GK.
Now, since HZ and GQ are parallel, HG / GK = ZQ / QK. Hence,
MA / AD = ZQ / QK. But QK = AD = a, so MA = ZQ, that is u = w,
and MD = ZK.

(3) Next, for the line of points BDAM, Euclid II-6 gives
(BM)(MA) + AD2 = MD2. Comparing this with the equation of step
(1), using MD2 = ZK2 from step (2), and AD2 = GZ2 from the con-
struction, we get (BM)(MA) = (BK)(GK), and BM / BK = GK / MA.

This is the condition of the Mean Proportionals Lemma for ABGL,

so GK and MA are the mean proportionals between AB and BG.

COROLLARY. THE CUBE DOUBLING THEOREM

When AB = 2 BG, the cube doubling condition, one has that
MA3 = BG3 (MA / BG)3 = BG3 (MA / BG)(GK / MA)(2 BG / GK) =
2 BG3. So, the cube with edge MA doubles the cube with
edge BG.

In antiquity, Nicomedes himself developed all known applications

of the conchoid. Later, Pappus (340 AD) and Eutocius (~500 AD)
discussed his curve and transcribed his results. Through them,
interest in this curve arose much later in the 16th century. Viète,
Descartes, Fermat, Newton, and others studied his conchoid and
discovered new applications and properties for it. Newton recom-
mended its use in geometry because it was easy to construct and
enabled solving 3rd and 4th-degree equations. In the 17th-century,
mathematicians generalized it by taking a circle instead of a straight
line for the directrix and even later used conics for the directrix. To
this day, in modern algebraic geometry, researchers are still dis-
covering new applications for the Nicomedes conchoid.

74
 PHILON THE BYZANTINE
(280-220 BC)

Philon was a Greek who wrote about various as-

pects of mechanics and mathematics. Philon
made journeys to Rhodes and Alexandria to study
catapults, and he appears to have discussed mili-
tary applications of catapults with the rulers of
Alexandria. His treatise Mechanics is the only
work of his that has partly survived and was men-
tioned by Heron and Eutocius, who also cited work by him on the
doubling of the cube.

MECHANICS (9 BOOKS)
1 .Introduction
2. On the lever
3. On the building of seaports
4. On catapults
5. On pneumatics
6. On automatic theatres
7. On the building of fortresses
8. On besieging and defending towns
9. On stratagems

The text of Books 4, 5, 7, and 8 have survived, but we have lost the
rest. However, Philon had extensive cross-references in his work,
from which we have learned about the lost sections.

One important mathematical contribution by Philon was a solution

to the problem of doubling the cube. This appears in Book 4 about
catapults, where he examines the problem of constructing a cata-
pult that can fire a projectile twice as heavy as another one. To do
this it is necessary to construct a machine whose linear dimensions
are increased exactly the amount necessary for its volume (the
cube of the linear dimension) to double. He solved this by inventing
a new line, now called the “Philon Line”, to construct a geometric

75
 3
representation for √2 . With that, it was easy to construct a doubled
cube.

THE PHILON LINE

Philon defined this line by a specific property that it has relative to
a rectangle.

DEFINITION (Philon) Let ABCD be

a rectangle with center E and
AB < BC. Draw the circle that passes
through its vertices. Draw a line
through D and let it intersect BA ex-
tended at G, BC extended at F, and
intersect the circle at H between G
and D. Rotate the ruler about D until
GH = DF. That is the Philon line of
ABCD.

LEMMA. The Philon Line exists and is unique.

Proof. Rotate this line with pivot point D. Clockwise rotation in-
creases GH and decreases DF. Counterclockwise rotation does the
reverse. Thus, there is a unique intermediate position with
GH = DF.

But Philon did not have a method to construct this line geometri-
cally. Instead, he used a special neusis mechanical ruler which he
would rotate manually about pivot point D until he got the condition
GH = DF. One can build a mechanical device with two sliding at-
tached rulers. Others after Philon, specifically Apollonius and
Heron, gave alternate definitions for the Philon line. And further,
there are more general modern definitions. Here are some of them.

76
DEFINITION 2. (Apollonius) Let point
E be the center of rectangle ABCD.
Draw a large circle that intersects BA
at G and BC at F. Adjust the radius EF
until FDG are collinear. This is the
Apollonius line of ABCD.

DEFINITION 3. (Heron) Let point E

be the center of rectangle ABCD. Place a ruler that passing through
D and intersects BA at G and BC at F. Rotate the ruler about D until
EF = EG. That is the Heron line of ABCD.

DEFINITION 4. For a point D that lies

inside an angle ABC, draw a line
through it that intersects AB at G and
BC at F. Draw a perpendicular from B
to a point H on GF. The Philon line is
the one with GH = DF, and BH is per-
pendicular to FG.

DEFINITION 5. For a point D that lies

inside an angle ABC, draw a line through it that intersects AB at G
and BC at F. The Philon line is the one where GF has the shortest
length.

THEOREM
When ABC is a right-angle, these definitions are all equivalent.

77
PHILON’S CUBE DOUBLING THEOREM
Construct a rectangle ABCD with
BC = 2 AB. Let FG be the Philon line
through points D and H such that
GH = DF. Then, AG and CF are mean
proportionals between BC and AB.
And the cube with edge CF doubles
the cube with edge AB.

Proof (from Eutocius)

Since GH = DF, we have (FH)(DF) = (DG)(GH). By construction,
the points ABCDH are on the same circle. So, from Euclid Elements
III-36, we get (FH)(DF) = (BF)(CF) and (DG)(GH) = (BG)(AG).
Thus, (BF)(CF) = (BG)(AG) or CF / AG = BG / BF. This is the
condition for Nicomedes Mean Proportionals Lemma for ABCD,
thus AG and CF are the mean proportionals between BC and AB.

78
 APOLLONIUS OF PERGA
(262-190 BC)

Apollonius was “The Great Geometer” of Alexan-

dria. He was prolific and wrote many works. Only
one, his masterpiece Conics survives. His many
other treatises are now all lost, but some of them
were described by commentators, notably Pappus.

Apollonius’ famous work,

Conics, consisted of 8 Books, but only
Books I-VII (387 Propositions) survived.
He wrote his Conics in the style of
Euclid’s Elements. It is an extensive ref-
erence work with important basic defini-
tions, constructions, and propositions
about conics. It extended and surpassed
the prior works of Menaechmus, Aris-
taeus (Solid Loci), and Euclid (Elements
of Conics), which we have now lost. But we know that Apollonius
had access to Euclid’s work and that many of his teachers had been
students of Euclid. We also know that Apollonius incorporated
these prior works into his Conics, but with much greater detail. In-
terestingly, Britannica’s Great Books of the Western World (60 vol-
umes) includes both Euclid’s Elements and Apollonius’ Conics, and
translations of both are available online and in print.

Here is an overview summary of the contents for each Book.

Quotes in italics are from Apollonius in the text of his Conics. There
is too much material to cover here, so we only present a few key
concepts and illustrative theorems.

CONICS BOOKS I-IV. BASIC PROPERTIES.

“Of the eight books the first four belong to a course in the elements.”
They introduce the basic properties of conics, many of which were
known to Euclid (in his lost Elements of Conics), Menaechmus,
Aristaeus, Archimedes, and others. Also, he extended some of

79
Euclid’s theorems for circles to more general results for conics, with
the circle treated as a special case.

Book I. (58 PROPOSITIONS)

“contains the generation of the three sections and of the opposite
[sections], and the principal properties in them worked out more
fully and universally than in the writings of others.” He uses the term
“sections” for the conics (circle, ellipse, parabola, and hyperbola)
resulting from the intersection of a plane with a cone. And he
defines a “cone” as having a circle as a base, a “vertex” not on the
base plane, and the lines from the vertex to the circle’s circumfer-
ence generating the cone’s surface. So, a cone can be oblique, and
its “axis” is the line joining the vertex to the center of the circular
base. This gives some unusual definitions from which he derived
other properties. For example, he defines a conic section’s “diam-
eter”, “vertex”, and “ordinates”.

DEFINITION 4. For any curved line that is in one plane, I call the
straight line drawn from the curved line that bisects all straight lines
drawn to this curved line parallel to some straight line the diameter.
And I call the end of the diameter situated on the curved line the
vertex of the curved line, and I call these parallels the ordinates
drawn to the diameter.”

DEFINITION 6. “conjugate diameters” are two diameters that are

ordinates of each other.

DEFINITION 7. An “axis” is a diameter whose ordinates are per-

pendicular to it.

DEFINITION 8. “conjugates axes” are two conjugate diameters

that are both an axis.

DEFINITION 9. “the midpoint of a diameter of a hyperbola and

ellipse is called the center.”

These definitions use the diameter and its ordinates as a coordinate

reference system. In this system, one gives a distance AB along a
diameter (usually from a vertex) and then gives a second distance
80
BC along the ordinate through B. With this, he then
defined the conic sections in propositions describing how to
construct them by finding three points in the section’s plane of
intersection with the cone and constructing axes and ordinates.

PROP 3. “If a cone is cut by a plane through the vertex, the section
is a triangle.”

PROPS 4-5. Gives two cases where the section is a circle.

PROP 11. Defines a parabola, whose cutting plane is parallel to

one side of an axial triangle.

PROP 12. Defines a hyperbola, whose cutting plane intersects an

axial triangle side outside the vertex of the cone.

PROP 13. Defines an ellipse, whose cutting plane cuts both sides
of an axial triangle inside the vertex of the cone.

For example, the parabola is defined as follows.

PROPOSITION 11.

A cone with vertex A has an axial tri-

angle ABC. Straight-line FG, parallel
to AC, meets side AB at F and base
BC at G. Straight line DE is in the
plane of the base and is perpendicular
to BC at G. Plane DFE cuts the cone
in a segment called a parabola with
axis FG. From any point K on the
parabola, draw line KL parallel to DE
meeting diameter FG at L. Then, KL
is an ordinate of the axis and
KL2 = (FL)(FH), where FH / FA =
BC2 / (AB)(AC), and FH is the “latus rectum” constant.

81
Note. Proposition 11 gives the equation for the parabola, with the
diameter line FL for the 1st axis value, and the KL ordinate (parallel
to DE) for the 2nd axis value and FH is a constant.

Also, in Book I, there are propositions for relationships between

intersecting lines, like the diameter, ordi-
nates, and tangents, for ellipses, parabo-
las, and hyperbolas, such as,

PROPOSITION 33. If from point C on a

parabola, one drops an ordinate to point D
on a diameter, and one extends this diam-
eter to a point A such that the vertex E is
the midpoint of DA, then the straight-line
CA is tangent to the parabola.

Book II. (53 PROPOSITIONS)

“contains the properties having to do with the diameters and axes
and the asymptotes, … And what I call diameters and what I call
axes you will know from this book.” He investigates properties of
hyperbola asymptotes, as well as tangents and centers of all
conics.

PROPOSITIONS 5-7. Lines bisected by a diameter are parallel to

the tangent at the diameter vertex.

PROPOSITION 29. If two tangents at

A and B of a conic section intersect at
point C, and D is the midpoint of the line
AB, then CD is a diameter of the section.

PROPOSITIONS 44-47. For a conic

section, find a diameter, the center, and
the axis.

PROPOSITION 49. Construct a line through a given point and

tangent to a given conic. [Note. Apollonius solves 11 cases.]

PROPOSITIONS 50-53. For a conic section, draw a tangent

having a given angle with a diameter.

82
Book III. (56 PROPOSITIONS)
“contains many unexpected theorems of use for the construction of
solid loci … of which the greatest part and the most beautiful are
new.” This includes the three-line and four-line loci for the conic
sections.

PROPOSITION 41. If three lines tangent to a parabola at points

A, B, C intersect each other with lines ADE, EFC, and DBF, then
they will cut each other in the same ratio. That is,
AD / DE = DB / BF = EF / CF.

PROPOSITION 48. Given an ellipse or hyperbola and a tangent

line at point E, then the lines drawn from E to the “points of appli-
cation” make equal angles with the line of tangency.
[Note: The “points of application” are what we call the “focal
points”.]

PROPOSITION 49. Given an ellipse or

hyperbola with axis AB, and a tangent
at point E, draw a line from one “point of
application” C perpendicular to the tan-
gent line at H. Then, angle AHB is a
right angle. [Note. this generalizes
“Thales Theorem” for the circle.]

PROPOSITION 50. Given an ellipse or

hyperbola with axis AB, and a tangent
at point E, draw a line from one “point of
application” C to E. Draw a line parallel to CE from the center H to
meet the tangent at L. Then HL equals one half the axis AB. That
is, HL = AH = HB.

PROPOSITION 52. Given an ellipse with major axis AB, “points

of application” C and D on AB, and any point G on the conic sec-
tion, then the sum of the distances from G to the focal points is
equal to the axis; that is GC + GD = AB. [Note. This gives the “rope”
construction for an ellipse.]

83
PROPOSITION 54. One can
describe a conic curve as a
three-line locus. Namely, let AD
and CD be tangents to the conic
curve at A and C. Draw line m
through A parallel to CD, and line
n through C parallel to AD.
Let H be any point on the conic.
Let CH intersect m at F, and
AH intersect n at G. Then,
(AF)(CG) = k AC2, for a fixed
constant k. This defines the
conic as a locus generated by the three lines AD, CD, and AC.

Book IV. (57 PROPOSITIONS)

studies “the greatest number of points at which sections of a cone
can meet one another or meet a circumference of a circle.”

Pappus said this Book was based on the work that Conon, a close
friend of Archimedes, did on conic sections. That work gave the
basic ideas about intersections of conics. However, Apollonius crit-
icized Conon’s proofs and supplied his own.

PROPOSITION 1. Let D be a point outside

a conic section, line DEG cut the section at
E and G, and line DB be tangent to the sec-
tion at B. Construct point Z on EG such that
DZ divides EG harmonically, that is:
GZ / ZE = GD / DE. Draw line BZ and pro-
duce it to meet the conic at A. Then DA is
tangent to the conic at A.

PROPOSITION 25. A conic section does

not cut another conic section at more than
four points.

84
PROPOSITION 26. If two conic sections are tangent at one point,
then they will not meet each other in more than two other points.

PROPOSITION 27. If two conic sections are tangent to one

another at two points, they will not meet one another at another
point.

PROPOSITION 30. A parabola cannot be tangent to another

parabola at more than one point.

There are many other propositions for specific cases of intersec-

tions with a hyperbola.

CONICS BOOKS V-VII

These Books are only known from Arabic translations since the
original works are lost.

Book V. (77 PROPOSITIONS)

This book studies minimal and maximal lines to conics from points
both on and off the axes. It then studies the intersection points of
perpendiculars (normals) drawn to conics and the evolutes of
conics.

PROPOSITIONS 27-30. The minimal and maximal lines from a

point to a conic are perpendicular to the tangent at the point of
contact.

PROPOSITIONS 55-63. Give the construction of normals from

points to a conic.

Book VI. (33 PROPOSITIONS)

Studies the equality and inequality of conics, and conditions for
their similarity and dissimilarity. There are also constructions to
draw the section of a cone that is equal to a given conic curve.

PROPOSITION 6. If two arcs of two conics are equal, then the

conics are equal.

85
PROPOSITIONS 11-12. All conics with equal eccentricities are
similar.

PROPOSITIONS 28-30. Given a conic curve and a right cone

(with its axis perpendicular to its base), construct a section of the
cone that is equal to the conic curve.

Book VII. (51 PROPOSITIONS)

“Wonderful and beautiful theorems on diameters.”

PROPOSITION 12. “In any ellipse the sum of the squares on any
two of its conjugate diameters whatever is equal to the sum of the
squares on its two axes.”

PROPOSITION 26. “In every ellipse, the sum of its two axes is
smaller than the sum of any other conjugate pair of diameters.”

OTHER WORKS OF APOLLONIUS

No other original texts have survived, but some commentaries
describe them. Notably, Pappus described many of them in his
Synagoge, including Cutting of a Ratio, Cutting of an Area, Deter-
minate Section, Tangencies, Inclinations, and Plane Loci. Other
commentators described other works of Apollonius, including:

Proclus mentions a work about the cylindrical helix and another

about irrational numbers.

Eutocius mentions a book with an approximation for π better than

that of Archimedes.

Ptolemy says that Apollonius introduced systems of eccentric and

epicyclic motion to study planetary motion and studied the points
where a planet appears stationary.

Some of his most notable results are the following.

86
TANGENCIES
In The Elements Book III Euclid showed how to
draw a circle through three given points and a
circle tangent to three given lines. Apollonius
extended this in Tangencies by posing the prob-
lem: given three things (points, straight lines, or
circles), describe the circles passing through the
given points, and touching the given lines or cir-
cles. This is now called “Apollonius’ Problem”.

The number of solutions depends on the types

of objects involved.

1. For 3 points, there is exactly one circle or line passing through

them.
2. For 3 lines, there are at most 4 solutions.
3. For 3 circles, there are at most 8 solutions.

In the 16th century, Viète proposed a simple solution, and eventually

restored the whole of Apollonius's treatise in the small book
Apollonius Gallus (Paris, 1600).

TRISECTING AN ANGLE
Apollonius solved this problem with a hyperbola.

CONSTRUCTION. Given an an-

gle AOB with AO = BO, draw a
line OT that is the perpendicular
bisector of AB. And draw a hyper-
bola with focus B, directrix OT, and
eccentricity 2. Next, with O as the
center draw a circle through A and
B, cutting the hyperbola at point P.
Then, POB trisects AOB.

87
Proof. Reflect the line segment OP through the directrix OT getting
point Q as the image of P and with R as the midpoint of PQ.
Segment AQ has the same length as segment BP due to the
reflection, while segment PQ has the same length as segment BP
since 2 PR = BP due to the eccentricity 2 of the hyperbola. As OA,
OQ, OP, and OB are all radii of the same circle, they have the same
length, and the triangles ΔOAQ, ΔOQP, and ΔOPB are all congru-
ent. Therefore, 3 POB = AOB.

DOUBLING THE CUBE

Apollonius used a method like Philon’s but had a different definition
for the solution line.

DEFINITION. Let point E be the

center of rectangle ABCD. Draw a
large circle with center E that
intersects BA at G and BC at F.
Adjust the radius EF = EG until
the points FDG are collinear. This
is the Apollonius line of ABCD.

PROPOSITION. The Apollonius

line constructs segments CF and AG that are the two mean propor-
tionals between AB and BC. That is: AB / CF = CF / AG = AG / BG.

Proof. First, we consider line BCF, and we draw a perpendicular to

it from E to the point K. Since ΔBCE is isosceles, we have BK = CK.
Using Euclid II-6, we get (BF)(CF) + CK2 = FK2. Adding EK2 to both
sides of this equation, and applying the Pythagorean theorem, we
have (BF)(CF) + CE2 = EF2. Similarly, for the line BAG, we get
(BG)(AG) + AE2 = EG2. Since CE = AE and EF = EG, we have that
(BF)(CF) = (BG)(AG) or CF / AG = BG / BF. This is the condition
for Nicomedes Mean Proportionals Lemma for ABCD. Thus, CF
and AG are the mean proportionals between AB and BC.

88
 DIONYSODORUS
(250-190 BC)

Dionysodorus a Greek mathematician who solved a problem that

Archimedes gave in On the Sphere and Cylinder. The problem was
to cut a sphere with a plane in a fixed ratio, which was equivalent
to solving a cubic equation Dionysodorus solved it using the inter-
section of a parabola and a rectangular hyperbola. Eutocius (~500
AD) describes this solution in his commentaries and credited it to
Dionysodorus.

Let AB be the diameter of the

sphere with center C. We wish
to find a plane that divides the
sphere in the ratio m / n. Take
F on BA extended with
FA = AO. Let AG be perpendic-
ular to AB where the point G
satisfies FA / AG = (m + n) / n.
Let H be the point on AG with
AH2 = (FA)(AG) and draw the parabola with vertex at F passing
through H. Also, draw the rectangular hyperbola through G with the
x and y axes as its asymptotes. Let the hyperbola cut the parabola
at P and draw PQ perpendicular to AB. Then Dionysodorus proved
that the plane through Q with AB as its normal will cut the sphere
in the given ratio m / n.

Heron also mentioned Dionysodorus work On the Tore, in which he

calculates the volume of a torus. He shows that it is equal to the
product of the area of the generating circle with the length of the
circle traced by its center rotating about the axis of revolution. Dio-
nysodorus used the methods of Archimedes in proving his result.

89
 DIOCLES
(240-180 BC)

Diocles was a contemporary of Apollonius. We

have lost his works, but an Arabic translation of his
most significant manuscript On Burning Mirrors
was found in Iran in 1976. This manuscript has
sixteen propositions in geometry, mostly about
conics. It had three separate topics.

A PARABOLIC MIRROR HAS A FOCAL POINT

Diocles has long been known to have been the first to prove this.
This showed that a parabolic mirror could focus parallel beams of
sunlight at a single point to start a fire, which gives this manuscript
its title. The conjecture for finding such a mirror evolved from the
work of Euclid about spherical mirrors, Zenodorus first posed it to
Diocles, and Dositheus (who knew Archimedes) implemented it in
practice. But Diocles was the first to prove it.

PROPOSITION 1. The parabola has the focus property.

PROPOSITIONS 4-5. Construct a

parabola as follows. Given a focus
point F and a directrix line L, the
parabola is the locus of points P with
their distance from F equal to their
perpendicular distance from L.

Diocles was the first to define and

prove this construction as a property of the parabola. Heath had
conjectured that Aristaeus the Elder had discovered this property
200 years earlier. Most do not agree with this. Neither Euclid nor
Archimedes mention this construction using a point and a directrix.
The first mention of anyone using a focus-directrix method to define
a locus was Nicomedes to construct his conchoid. And Apollonius,

90
who knew that conics had special “points of application” with focus
point properties, never mentions the focus-directrix property in his
Conics. Such considerations have resulted in crediting the discov-
ery of the focus-directrix property to Diocles, a young contemporary
of Apollonius. Nevertheless, Pappus said that Apollonius trisected
an angle using the focus-directrix construction for a hyperbola with
eccentricity 2. Diocles had defined the focus-directrix property of
the parabola, but he had not extended it to other conics. From this,
one could conclude that Apollonius extended this construction to
the hyperbola and ellipse after learning of Diocles' work and after
he wrote Conics.

CUT A SPHERE BY A PLANE IN A GIVEN RATIO

PROPOSITIONS 7-8. Diocles solved a problem that Archimedes
gave in his Sphere and Cylinder to divide a sphere in a fixed ratio.
Diocles solved it with the intersection of a hyperbola and an ellipse.
A solution had already been given by Dionysodorus that also used
the intersection of two conics.

DOUBLING THE CUBE

PROPOSITIONS 10-12. Diocles solved the problem of inserting
two mean proportions between a pair of magnitudes using a cissoid
curve which he invented.

PROPOSITIONS 14-16. He solved generalizations of the cube

doubling problem using the cissoid.

To do this, he invented a new curve, the “Cissoid of Diocles”.

91
DEFINITION. Construct a cissoid
by starting with a circle with diam-
eter OA = 2a, and center C = (a,
0). Next, on the tangent line
x = 2a, select any point M2 and in-
tersect the line OM2 with the circle
at M1. Then, the point M such that
OM = M1M2, defines a point on the
cissoid curve. Equations for this
curve are:
Polar:
r = 2a (sec θ – cos θ)
= 2a sin2 θ / cos θ.
Cartesian:
(x2 + y2)x = 2ay2, or
y2 = x3 / (2a – x),

Using this cissoid, he found two mean proportions u and v between

a and 2a with the following.

THEOREM. Draw the line x = a perpendicular to OA at the center

C of the circle. On it, mark the point B = (a, 2a). Draw BA, and let
P be the point where BA intersects the cissoid. Next, let U be the
intersection of OP with the line CB. Then, u = CU and v = u2/a, are
the two means between a and b = 2a. So, the cube with the edge
u doubles the cube with the edge a.

Proof. First, drop a perpendicular from P to N on OA. Then,

P = (ON, PN). Using the cissoid equation y2 = x3 / (2a – x), we

have PN2 = ON3 / (OA – ON) and PN3 / ON3 = PN / NA. By similar
triangles, PN / ON = UC / OC and PN / NA = BC / CA. Substituting
these we have, UC3 / OC3 = BC / CA. Thus, u3/a3 = 2a/a and
u3 = 2a3, doubling the cube with the edge a.

92
 HIPPARCHUS OF RHODES
(190-120 BC)

Hipparchus was a Greek astronomer, geographer,

and mathematician. He is most famous for his
astronomical discovery of the precession of the
equinoxes. In mathematics, some historians say
that he invented trigonometry, and was the first to
systematically use and document the foundations
of trigonometry. He published several books with trigonometric
tables of “chords” and the methods for calculating them. Unfortu-
nately, we have lost these books, though there is documentary
evidence of them from Ptolemy and Theon.

In 1973, the math historian Toomer reconstructed Hipparchus's

table of chords and his method for calculating them. Hipparchus
based his tables on dividing a circle into 360 degrees, and each
degree into 60 minutes, which is the first recorded use of this sub-
division. And for a circle, he defined the Crd(θ) chord function as
the length of the line joining the endpoints of the arc subtended by
the angle θ at the circle’s center. He used a circle with a radius
r = 60 (360 / 2π) = 3438 minutes and with π = 3.1417 (near the
mean 3.14185 of Archimedes bounds for π), measuring chords with
minutes of arc. Using modern algebra, his chord function is
Crd(θ) = 2r sin(θ/2), but, of course, the sin() function did not exist
at that time. Hipparchus started tabulating the chords for angles
that were multiples of 7.5° (which is constructable as 1/8 of the con-
structable 60° angle). Then he interpolated intermediate values
with Pythagoras’ Theorem.

In addition to his trigonometric chord tables, Hipparchus solved

several problems of spherical trigonometry. Also, with his solar and
lunar theories and his trigonometry, he was the first to develop a
reliable method to predict solar eclipses. Further, he compiled the
first comprehensive star catalog of the western world and invented
the astrolabe, which he used to create the star catalog.

93
 THEODOSIUS OF BITHYNIA
(160-90 BC)

Theodosius was the author of Sphaerics, three

books on spherical geometry, that he wrote to supply
a mathematical background for astronomy. Sphaer-
ics has no trigonometry, and he wrote it as a supple-
ment to Euclid's Elements to make up for its lack of
results on the geometry of the sphere. He also wrote
two other works related to astronomy, On habitations, and On days
and nights.

SPHAERICS
Theodosius gave theorems which generalized those given by Eu-
clid in Elements Book III for circles. Sphaerics Book II considered
tangent circles on a sphere, and gave results relevant to astron-
omy, continuing these results through his Book III. Like Euclid, he
compiled and organized work that preceded him, even from the
work of Eudoxus. An example result is:

PROP III-3. Let two great circles on a sphere intersect at point E.

And remove equal circular-arcs from each great circle on each side
of E, to get AEB with AE = AB on one circle, and CED with CE = CD
on the other. Then the straight-lines CA and BD are equal.

Some commentators remarked that this book did not have original
results. Nevertheless, it was popular as a textbook. Further,
Pappus included it in a collection on astronomy, it was also trans-
lated into Arabic in the 9th century and then was translated into Latin
in the 12th century.

94
 HERON OF ALEXANDRIA
(10-75)

Heron was a mathematician, physicist, and me-

chanical engineer in his hometown of Alexandria,
Egypt. He had many important inventions,
including the first steam-powered engine, an aeoli-
pile sometimes called the "Hero engine". And he
invented a windwheel operating an organ, marking
the first instance in history of wind powering a machine. Also, he
invented the first vending machine that dispensed holy water when
a coin was dropped in a slot in the top.

Many works by Heron have survived. They fall into several catego-
ries, technical, mechanical, and mathematical works. Surviving
ones known to be his works are:

Pneumatica (2 Books) is about machines powered by air, steam, or

water pressure. He begins with a theory of pressure in fluids (only
partly right) and follows with a collection of toys and over 100
machines using steam, wind, and water.

Automata is about methods for pneumatical opening/closing doors,

dispensing liquids, etc.

Mechanica (3 Books) In Book I, he discusses theories of motion

and balance. In Book II, he discusses lifting heavy objects with a
lever, pulley, wedge, or screw. And Book III examines sledges,
cranes, and wine presses.

Metrica (3 Books) is about mathematics to calculate areas,

surfaces, and volumes. (see below)

On the Dioptra is about instruments for measuring lengths, angles,

and speed.

95
Belopoeica is a description of war machines, such as the catapult.

Catoptrica studies light reflection and the use of mirrors

METRICA
BOOK I. deals with areas of triangles, quadrilaterals, regular poly-
gons up to 12 sides, surfaces of spheres, cones, cylinders, prisms,
and pyramids. It also has a numerical method, known to the Baby-
lonians 2000 years earlier, for approximating the square root of a
number. And it includes his now-famous theorem.

TRIANGLE AREA THEOREM. For a triangle Δ with sides

a, b, c, its area is given by
Area(∆) = √𝑠(𝑠 − 𝑎)(𝑠 − 𝑏)(𝑠 − 𝑐)
where we have s = (a + b + c) / 2.

BOOK II. considers the measurement of volumes of various three-

dimensional figures such as spheres, cylinders, cones, prisms, and
pyramids.

BOOK III. considers dividing areas and volumes according to a

given ratio. Also, he gives a method to find the cube root of a num-
ber, which would solve the problem to double a cube.

Additionally, Heron is credited with solving the cube doubling prob-

lem with a new method to find the Philon line of a rectangle. His
method was like the one given by Apollonius but used an alternate
neusis ruler construction to get the same geometric condition as
Apollonius (see the Philon and Apollonius sections for details).

96
 MENELAUS OF ALEXANDRIA
(70-130)

Menelaus was a Greek mathematician and astron-

omer, and the first to recognize geodesics on a
curved surface, the sphere, as the natural analogs
of straight lines. Little is known about him, but
Ptolemy and Pappus refer to his work. He wrote
many books, some of which were translated to
Arabic, but all were lost except one. His only surviving work is
Sphaerica (3 Books), in which he developed spherical geometry,
both the theory and with applications to astronomy.

SPHAERICA
BOOK I. He gave the first definition for a “spherical triangle” as “the
space included by arcs of great circles on the surface of a sphere”.
This was his basis for treating spherical triangles as Euclid treated
plane triangles and was a turning point for developing spherical trig-
onometry. He then proved results like those of Euclid in the plane.
The historian Heath remarked that “his treatment is more complete
than Euclid's treatment of the analogous plane case.” Some of his
noteworthy results include:

PROP. The sum of the angles for a spherical triangle is

greater than 180°.

PROP. If for two spherical triangles, their angles are equal,

then they are congruent. That is, similar triangles are equal.
[So, spherical proofs cannot use triangle similarity ratios.]

BOOK 2. applies spherical geometry to astronomy. Theodosius

had many propositions but did not use great circles for triangle
edges, and Menelaus gave better proofs.

BOOK 3. is about spherical trigonometry and gives "Menelaus's

theorem”. Likely, this was known in the plane before him, but he
first proved the spherical version of this theorem. Nevertheless, the

97
planar theorem first appears in his work and is usually named after
him.

MENELAUS PLANAR THEOREM

Given a triangle ΔABC and a line cutting all three sides BC, CA,
and AB at distinct points D, E, F, then:

AF BD CE
∙ ∙ = −1
FB DC EA

Conversely, if this equation is

true, then D, E, F are collin-
ear.

Proof. Drop perpendiculars from A, B, and C to points G, H, K on

the extended line DEF. Then, triangles ΔAEG and ΔCEK are simi-
lar, ΔBDH and ΔCDK are similar, and ΔBFH and ΔAFG are similar.
Set u = AG, v = BH, and w = CK. Then, CE / EA = w / u,
BD / DC = v / w, and AF / FB = u / v. Also, a ratio is positive when
the intersection point is interior to an edge of ΔABC, and negative
otherwise. Further, the line EDF intersects the interior of edges of
ΔABC either twice or not at all, with either two or zero positive
ratios, so there is an odd number (1 or 3) of negative ratios. Thus,
AF BD CE u v w
∙ ∙ = ∙ ∙ = −1
FB DC EA v w u
One can prove the converse by contradiction.

MENELAUS’ SPHERICAL THEOREMS

His spherical theorems, two of them, are like the planar theorem
except the lines are great circles. However, the proof is more com-
plicated since the triangle similarities are not valid. The proof is too
long to include here, so we omit it. Note that, for points A and B on
a circle or sphere, the notation AB refers to the length of the chord
joining points A and B, not the arc length along the circle’s circum-
ference or the great circle on the sphere’s surface. For arc length,
98
we write arc AB, which we measure in degrees. Recall that, for a
given circle or sphere, Hipparchus defined the chord function
Crd(θ) as the distance between the endpoints of the arc subtended
by θ. So, we would have Crd(arc AB) = AB. Further, “arc 2AB”
denotes doubling the arc AB. In the Greek translation of Ptolemy’s
Almagest, the expression Crd(arc 2AB) means literally “the line
subtended by the double of arc AB”.

DEFINITION. MENELAUS CONFIGURATION.

Shown in the diagram, this is a configu-
ration of four great circles on a sphere
with two spherical triangles ΔADC and
ΔAEB intersecting in a spherical quad-
rangle ABHC.

SPHERICAL THEOREM 1.
For a Menelaus configuration, for
AD, CD, and BE we have:

𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐴𝐷) 𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐶𝐷) 𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐸𝐻)

= ∙ .
𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐴𝐵) 𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐶𝐻) 𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐸𝐵)

SPHERICAL THEOREM 2.
For a Menelaus configuration, for BE, AE, and AD we have:

𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐸𝐻) 𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐶𝐸) 𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐴𝐷)

= ∙ .
𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐵𝐻) 𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐴𝐶) 𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐵𝐷)

200 years later, Ptolemy would use these theorems in his Almagest
to compute the longitudinal arcs between the equator (of the earth)
and the ecliptic (the plane of the sun’s annual motion).
Ptolemy’s statement of these theorems used the Crd(arc 2PQ)
notation, and we assume that he got it from a copy of Menelaus’
Sphaerica. However, the original Sphaerica was lost, and it only
survived in an Arabic translation by Abu Nasr Mansur (~1000 AD),
for which there is a recent English translation. In the translation, the
formulas use sine() with sine(𝜃) = 𝐶𝑟𝑑(2𝜃)/2, which simplifies the
formulas.

99
 CLAUDIUS PTOLEMY
(85-165)

Ptolemy wrote the Almagest which gave the most

detailed mathematical treatment for the geocentric
theory of planetary motion. Considered a master-
piece with few peers, the Almagest stayed the major
work in astronomy for 1400 years, until the heliocen-
tric theory of Copernicus superseded him. Never-
theless, his mathematics has survived in his The Greatest Compi-
lation (in Greek), also known as the Almagest (in Arabic).

THE ALMAGEST
This is the earliest of Ptolemy's works and gives the mathematical
theory of the motions of the Sun, Moon, and planets in 13 Books.
Book I is the most important one for mathematics.

BOOK I. He developed his foundations of trigonometry, improving

the chord tables that Hipparchus had computed, and extending the
spherical geometry of Menelaus.

In Chapters 1-9, he described the Aristotelian geocentric theory of

the universe that he will use.

In Chapter 10, he developed the math tools he needs to accurately

compute the chord tables in increments of ½ degree. This includes
his famous Ptolemy’s Theorem, Menelaus Theorem, and formulas
to compute unknown chords from known ones. This is the heart of
his math, which we describe in a separate section.

Then, in Chapter 11, he recorded his complete table of chords in ½

degree increments.

In Chapter 13, he developed the spherical trigonometry he needed,

including triangular and circular lemmas. He recorded Menelaus’
Theorem with a complete proof and gave applications of it. We de-
scribe these results in a separate section.

100
Then, in Chapters 14-15, he achieved his major goal to compute
the longitudinal arcs between the equator and the ecliptic. And he
gave a table for the inclinations (latitudes) of the ecliptic (the plane
of the sun’s annual motion) above the equator (of the earth) for
each day of the year.

BOOK II. He studied phenomena seen from the earth, like the
risings and settings of celestial objects, the length of daylight, the
determination of latitude, and more.
BOOK III. He studied the motion of the Sun.
BOOKS IV-V. He studied the motion of the Moon.
BOOK VI. He studied solar and lunar eclipses.
BOOKS VII-VIII. He studied the motions of the fixed stars and
gives a star catalog of 1022 stars, described by their positions in
the constellations. Ptolemy named 48 constellations: 12 from the
zodiac, 21 to the north of the zodiac, and 15 to the south.
BOOKS IX-XII. He studied the planets, creating models for the
five naked-eye planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Sat-
urn), and studying the motion of each of them.

PTOLEMY’S ASSUMPTIONS AND SPECIAL CHORDS

In Book I Chapter 10, Ptolemy defined his measurements as divid-
ing a circle’s circumference into 360 arcs, with a “degree” (°) as the
unit to measure angles. Additionally, he set the circle’s diameter to
120 parts, and he measured line lengths (such as chords) in these
diameter parts, which are not arc degrees. Further, he expressed
line lengths as fractional sexagesimal (base 60) numbers, with
d;m,s computed in decimal as = d + (m / 60) + (s / 3600).

Like Hipparchus and Menelaus, Ptolemy’s chord function was

Crd(θ) = 120 sin(θ/2) in modern algebra. For example,
Crd(180°) = 120, the circle’s diameter. He did not assume a value
for π in his calculations. But eventually, we will see that he com-
puted Crd(1/2°) = 0;31,25 = 0.5236 for his smallest chord, and its
inscribed 720-gon gives π = 720 Crd(1/2°) / 120 = 3.1416.

101
First, he computed the chords of the special angles which subtend
the edges of specially inscribed polygons, the square, regular pen-
tagon, equilateral triangle, and regular decagon. For this, he ap-
pealed to Euclid Elements XIII-10, which says that the square on
the edge of an inscribed pentagon equals the sum of squares on
the edge of an inscribed hexagon and decagon. Then, using a
geometric construction, he calculated that Crd(90°) = 84;51,10,
Crd(72°) = 70;32,3, Crd(60°) = 60;0,0, Crd(36°) = 37;4,55, and
also Crd(108°), Crd(120°), and Crd(144°).

THE THEOREM OF PTOLEMY

This is his famous result that he used to compute new circular
chords from known ones. We will give an overview of his theorem,
corollaries, and computations.

PTOLEMY’S THEOREM.

If ABCD is a cyclic quadrilateral, that

is its vertices are on the same circle,
then the product of the lengths of its
diagonals is equal to the sum of the
products of the lengths of the pairs of
opposite sides. That is,

AC ∙ BD = AB ∙ CD + AD ∙ BC

Proof. Since they have a common base AB, ACB = ADB = φ.

And, since they have a common base BC, BAC = BDC = θ.
Draw BE to AC so that ABE = CBD = , and ABD = CBE.
Now, by common angles, we have similar triangles
△ABE ~ △DBC, and △EBC ~ △ABD. From these similarities, we
AE CD EC AD
have = and = .That is, (AE)(BD) = (AB)(CD),
AB BD BC BD
and (EC)(BD) = (AD)(BC). Adding these,

102
(AE + EC)(BD) = (AE)(BD) + (EC)(BD) = (AB)(CD) + (AD)(BC).
But AE + EC = AC. Thus, (AC)(BD) = (AB)(CD) + (AD)(BC).

COROLLARY 0: THE PYTHAGOREAN THEOREM.

[Note: Ptolemy did not give this corollary, so we have labeled it as
number 0.]

Proof. Draw a rectangle with sides a, b, and diagonal c. The

rectangle’s vertices are all on the circle with diameter c. So, by
Ptolemy’s theorem: c2 = a2 + b2.

Ptolemy proved several corollaries for computing new values of the

Crd(θ) function from known ones. This included formulas for
Crd(θ – φ), Crd(θ / 2), and Crd(θ + φ). These are related to similar
formulas for our modern sin() function, which did not exist at that
time.

COROLLARY 1: CHORD DIFFERENCE.

Given Crd(θ) and Crd(φ), compute Crd(θ – φ).

Proof. Take a hemisphere on the

diameter AD = 120 and in it two
angles φ = ADB < θ = ADC.
We know the values of the
chords AB and AC. Since the
angles ABD and ACD are
right angles, we can compute BD and CD from the Pythagorean
theorem. Then from Ptolemy’s theorem we have

𝐵𝐷 ∙ 𝐴𝐶 − 𝐷𝐶 ∙ 𝐴𝐵
𝐵𝐶 =
𝐴𝐷
COROLLARY 2: CHORD BISECTION.
Given Crd (θ), compute Crd(θ / 2).

103
COROLLARY 3: CHORD ADDITION.
Given Crd(θ) and Crd(φ), compute Crd(θ + φ).

With these corollaries, Ptolemy could then compute many chords.

With Corollary 1 alone, he could calculate the chord lengths for all
the angles from 6° to 180° in 6° intervals, such as:
Crd(18°) = Crd(90°− 72°).
Crd(12°) = Crd(72°− 60°),
Crd(6°) = Crd(18°− 12°).

Further, with Corollary 2, he could divide 6° in half to get down to

3° and 1.5° chords. Then with Corollary 3, he could add these to
the 6° increment chords to get chords for all multiples of 1.5° up to
180°, like

Crd(21°) = Crd(18°+ 3°).

However, Ptolemy wanted to compute all multiples of 0.5° but get-

ting to that from 1.5° would be equivalent to trisecting the angle.
So, he needed something else to get a good approximation. For
this, he used the following.

ARISTARCHUS’ INEQUALITY.
BC 𝑎𝑟𝑐 BC
If AB < BC are two chords, then < .
AB 𝑎𝑟𝑐 AB

With this, Ptolemy approximated Crd(1°) very closely by getting up-

per and lower bounds for it. First, he compared Crd(1°) to
Crd(3/4°), which he computed by bisecting Crd(1.5°). Then, using
arc Crd(1°) = (4/3) arc Crd(3/4°), he got Crd(1°) < 1;2,50 from the
inequality. Second, he compared Crd(1.5°) to Crd(1°). Using
arc Crd(1.5°) = (3/2) arc Crd(1°), he now got Crd(1°) > 1;2,50 from
the inequality. Thus, Crd(1°) = 1;2,50, within 1-second.

Next, he computed Crd(1/2°) by bisecting 1°, and everything else

followed by adding or subtracting these small chords with the
known chords.
104
In Chapter 11, he finally recorded his complete table of chords. In
it, he also gave a third column with sixtieths, with a linear interpola-
tion from Crd(½°) down to 1 second. Ptolemy said these were
"accurate as far as the senses are concerned".

SPHERICAL TRIGONOMETRY
Now that he had his trigonometric table, he needed to use it to solve
geometry problems on the sphere, especially for the inclinations of
the ecliptic and the equator. He adopted the spherical geometry of
Menelaus, with lines on the sphere as the arcs of great circles. Also,
he used the notation “arc 2AB” to denote doubling the arc AB. So,
Crd(arc 2AB) means “the line subtended by the double of arc AB”.

Ptolemy went ahead to prove some results useful for his work. You
can find detailed descriptions of the math online at the Almagest
site. He wanted to first prove Menelaus’ theorems, and he had a
copy of Menelaus’ Sphaerica as a reference. He started with six
lemmas about planar triangles and circles, like:

LEMMA 1.
Given two distinct lines ADB and AEC, join BE
and CD to intersect at Z. Also draw line EH
with H on AD and EH parallel to CD. Then.
AC DC BZ
= ∙
AE DZ BE
LEMMA 3.
Given a circle with a diameter from B pass-
ing through the center D, draw a chord AC
that intersects BD at E. Then,
𝐴𝐸 𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐴𝐵)
=
𝐸𝐶 𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐵𝐶)

LEMMA 4.
For the same circle and chord as Lemma 3, if we know AE / EC
and arc AC, then we can find arc AB and arc BC.

105
THE THEOREMS OF MENELAUS

Ptolemy also used two theorems of

Menelaus, previously proved in the
Menelaus section. Summarizing here,
they are:

THEOREM. For a Menelaus configu-

ration of great circle arcs on a sphere,
as shown, we have:

𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐴𝐷) 𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐶𝐷) 𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐸𝐻)

= ∙ ,
𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐴𝐵) 𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐶𝐻) 𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐸𝐵)
and
𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐸𝐻) 𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐶𝐸) 𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐴𝐷)
= ∙ .
𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐵𝐻) 𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐴𝐶) 𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐵𝐷)

The vertices are labeled to match Ptolemy’s celestial sphere

application.

THE CELESTIAL SPHERE

Ptolemy had several problems he wanted to solve. Some of these
reflected his earth-centric cosmology, which we now know is false.
So, we will ignore astronomy, and focus on the pure geometric
problems he solved, which are still valid and can be useful in other
contexts.

He considered the “celestial sphere” to be earth-centered, with an

arbitrarily large radius since only the angular (latitude, longitude)
coordinates were relevant. But it could also be considered as a
heliocentric sphere for our solar system, or a galactic sphere, or
anything else that can be modeled with a sphere. Relevant
concepts on this sphere are the “equator” which is a neutral great
circle, and the “poles”, which are the endpoints of the diameter per-
pendicular to the equator’s plane. A “meridian” is a half great circle

106
joining the poles, also called a “longitude” line. Further, an “ecliptic”
is another plane through the center, different from the equator’s
plane. The intersection of the ecliptic with the sphere is the ecliptic
curve, which intersects the equator at the “equinox” points. Also,
the “solstice” points on the ecliptic are the points on the ecliptic
curve that are furthest away from the equator, one above it and one
below it. And a “latitude” is a circle on the sphere whose plane is
parallel to the equator’s plane and is measured by the angle of a
radius to the sphere’s center. One can uniquely specify a point of
the sphere by its latitude and longitude relative to an equinox point
on the equator. This is as much terminology as we need to describe
Ptolemy’s computations.

But, for the sake of context, Ptolemy considered the Earth’s center
as the center of the celestial sphere with the obvious equator and
poles. And he described the ecliptic by positions of the sun.

ANGLE OF THE ECLIPTIC

Ptolemy used the celestial equator to measure the year, so each
day was 360°/365.24 = 0.986°. and a month was 30° = 30.5 days
Then, each day, when the sun was at its highest elevation for the
day, about noontime, he measured the angle of the sun’s inclination
by the angle of the shadow it casts. For an entire year of data, these
celestial sphere points were all on the same plane. He translated
this plane down so that the midpoint of the solstices was on the
equatorial plane, and he called it the ecliptic. Then, the intersec-
tions of this ecliptic plane with the equator were the equinox points.
Ptolemy modeled this change of the sun’s daily inclination with a
secondary annual sphere of motion, in addition to the sphere of the
sun’s traversal of the sky each day. This agreed with the first math-
ematical model of the universe developed by Eudoxus, 500 years
before Ptolemy. But we now know the change of the sun’s inclina-
tion is because the earth has a tilted axis having different alignment
angles with the sun on different days of the year.

Nevertheless, Ptolemy wanted to measure the actual ecliptic angle,

namely the latitude of either solstice with the equator. Ptolemy’s

107
value came out slightly high at 23;51,20º = 23.855º. The true value
is currently 23;26,12.8º = 23.4369º.

ARCS BETWEEN THE EQUATOR AND ECLIPTIC.

Next, Ptolemy used Menelaus’ theo-
rem to compute the latitude of the
ecliptic curve at any longitude, to pro-
duce a table of the inclinations of the
sun above the celestial equator. This
is purely geometric for any two great
circle planes. In the diagram, ACE is
the equator, D is the north pole, and
EHB is the ecliptic. Point E is an
equinox (Ptolemy used the vernal
equinox). And ABD is the solstice meridian. Now, any point C on
the equator defines the CD longitude line, which intersects the
ecliptic at H.

Problem. Find arc CH, which is the latitude of point H.

Solution. We use the formula for Menelaus’ Theorem 1.

𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐴𝐷) 𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐶𝐷) 𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐸𝐻)

= ·
𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐴𝐵) 𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐶𝐻) 𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐸𝐵)

We look up all Crd() function values from Ptolemy’s chord table.

For arcs, we have AD = CD = EB = 90º, and Crd(2x90º) =
Crd(180º) = 120, the diameter. Next, as an example, we pick
EC = EH = 30º, and Crd(2x30º) = Crd(60º) = 60. Also, AB = 23.85º
is Ptolemy’s inclination of the ecliptic at the solstice, and
Crd(2x23.85º) = Crd(47.7º) = 48;31,55 (base 60). And now, CH is
the only unknown. Substituting, we get 𝐶𝑟𝑑(𝑎𝑟𝑐 2𝐶𝐻) =
120×60
48; 31,55° × 120×120 = 24; 15,57°. Finally, to get the arc, we do a
reverse lookup in the chord table to find arc 2CH = 23;19,59º, and
thus arc CH = 11;39,59º.

108
This is enough to show the type of trigonometric methods that
Ptolemy used. He further calculated the actual motions of the sun,
moon, planets, and stars each day, with annual and other varia-
tions. And he calculated rising and setting times, as well as differ-
ences due to the location of the observer. It was a phenomenal
piece of work and was the authority in astronomy for 1400 years,
after which it was replaced by our modern heliocentric model.
Nevertheless, many of his methods are still valid and can be used
in any spherical geometry model.

109
 PAPPUS OF ALEXANDRIA
(290-350)

Pappus was the last of the great Greek geome-

ters. His major work in geometry (~340) is the
Synagoge aka the Collection (8 Books), a hand-
book on a wide variety of topics: arithmetic, mean
proportionals, geometrical paradoxes, regular
polyhedrons, the spiral, the quadratrix, trisection,
honeycombs, semi-regular solids, minimal sur-
faces, astronomy, and mechanics.

He also referenced many works of past mathematicians and

preserved much of Greek geometry history, including the histories
of Eudemus, who wrote the sole history of Greek geometry before
Euclid. Pappus wanted to revive Greek geometry which was losing
interest and supporters. If he could not do that, he wanted to pre-
serve its accomplishments. In his Collection, he not only chronicled
Greek knowledge, but also added to it with new results, generali-
zations of known results, and improvements of many proofs.

THE COLLECTION.
This work has 8 Books, with Book I and parts of Book II lost. It was
written as a series of separate books on different topics, each with
its introduction and account of the topic’s history.

BOOK I & BOOK II - concerns arithmetic and studies Apollonius's

method for dealing with large numbers.

BOOK III - has four parts.

….PART 1 presents results for the problem of finding two mean
proportionals between two given straight lines.
….PART 2 gives constructions for the arithmetic, geometric and
harmonic means.
….PART 3 describes geometrical paradoxes taken from a work
by Erycinus.

110
….PART 4 shows how each of the five regular polyhedrons can
be inscribed in a sphere.

BOOK IV.- contains properties of curves including the quadratrix

of Hippias, the spiral of Archimedes, the conchoid of Nicomedes,
and their methods to trisect an angle.

In this context, Pappus said that there are three types of problems,
'plane', 'solid', and 'linear' problems. Planar problems can be solved
with a ruler and compass alone. Solid problems can be solved with
sections of the cone. And linear problems require curves other than
conics, arising from more irregular surfaces and complex motions.
This included the spiral, quadratrix, conchoid, and cissoid.

BOOK V.- begins by describing how bees construct honeycombs,

saying “Bees, then, know that the hexagon is greater than the
square and the triangle and will hold more honey for the same
expenditure of material”. Following this segue, he studied the prob-
lem of regular polygons having equal perimeters. Most of these
results come from Zenodorus (200-140 BC).

….PROPOSITION. For polygons with equal perimeters and an

equal number of sides, the regular polygon has the greatest area.

….PROPOSITION. For regular polygons with equal perimeters,

the one with a greater number of sides will have a greater area, and
the circle with that perimeter has the greatest of all.

….PROPOSITION. Of all circular segments having the same

circumference, the semicircle is the greatest.

….PROPOSITION. The Theorem of Zenodorus The sphere has a

greater volume than any regular solid with an equal surface area.

….PROPOSITION. For two regular polyhedrons with equal

surface area, the one with the greater number of faces has the
greater volume.

111
Further, Pappus discussed the thirteen semiregular solids discov-
ered by Archimedes.

BOOK VI.- called the “Little Astronomy” reviews and corrects er-
rors in the "Lesser Astronomical Works", that is, works other than
Ptolemy’s Almagest. He reviewed the Sphaerica of Theodosius, the
Moving Sphere of Autolycus, Theodosius' book Day and Night,
Aristarchus treatise On the Size and Distances of the Sun and
Moon, and Euclid's Optics and Phaenomena.

BOOK VII.- called the “Treasury of Analysis”, collects the works of

Euclid, Apollonius, Aristaeus, and Eratosthenes. Pappus first
explained the terms “analysis” and “synthesis”, saying that “in anal-
ysis, we suppose that which is sought to be already done and
inquire what it is from which this comes about”, but “in synthesis,
proceeding in the opposite way, we suppose … that which was last
reached in analysis, and … linking them one with another, … arrive
at the construction of what was sought”. Pappus then describes the
works in this collection and gives lemmas to assist the reader's
understanding of the original works. He also discussed the three-
and four-line locus theorems of Apollonius Conics Book III.

Additionally, in Book VII, Pappus proved several noteworthy new

results. His well-known hexagon theorem is considered the starting
point for projective geometry. And his centroid theorems fore-
shadow 17th-century integral calculus. We discuss these below.

BOOK VIII.- deals with mechanics. He said that “it deals generally
with the stability and movement of bodies about their centers of
gravity, and their motions in space”.

PROPOSITION 14 shows how to draw an ellipse through five

given points.

PROPOSITION 15 gives a simple construction for the axes of an

ellipse when a pair of conjugate diameters are given.

112
PAPPUS’ HEXAGON THEOREM
His hexagon theorem is regarded as the starting point for projective
geometry. We give a condensed version of Pappus’ proof. After
Pappus there were many alternate statements and proofs.

Pappus proved this theorem with a series of lemmas in his

commentary on Euclid’s Porisms. In his proof, Pappus used a spe-
cial product of ratios, which we now call the “cross-ratio”.

DEFINITION. The cross-ratio of 4 points A, B, C, and D on the

same line, is defined as
𝐴𝐶 ∙ 𝐵𝐷
(𝐴, 𝐵; 𝐶, 𝐷) = (𝐴𝐶 ⁄𝐵𝐶)(𝐵𝐷⁄𝐴𝐷) =
𝐵𝐶 ∙ 𝐴𝐷

The cross-ratio has several useful properties, such as

(A, B; C, D) = (C, D; A, B). And we now know that it has an im-
portant invariance property for projective transformations.

PROPOSITION.
If A, B, C and D on one line and
A’, B’, C’ and D’ on another line, are
projections of each other from a point P,
that is the lines AA’, BB’, CC’, and DD’
pass through the same point P, then
(A, C; D, B) = (A’, C’; D’, B’). That is, the
cross-ratio is invariant under projection.

Further, we now know that the cross-ratio is the only invariant for
projection, which makes it important in projective geometry.

Pappus did not formulate it this way but was the first to give an
important special case of this invariance. Using his vertex labeling,
he showed the following.

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LEMMA III.
Given three concurrent straight lines,
AB, AG, and AD that are crossed by
two lines, JBGD and JEZH. Then,
(J, G; D, B) = (J, Z; H, E).

And conversely,

LEMMA X.
If JBGD and JEZH are two lines, A is
the intersection of BE and DH, and (J, G; D, B) = (J, Z; H, E), then,
A, G, and Z are collinear.

With Lemmas III and X, he then proved.

THE HEXAGRAM THEOREM (PAPPUS LEMMA XII)

Given two lines AEB∞ and

GZD∞, where ∞ denotes their
distant intersection (or none if par-
allel), let the points H, M, and K be
the intersections of the pairs of
opposite sides of the hexagon
ADEGBZ. Then, H, M, and K are
collinear.

Proof. For lines GE and G∞ cut

by the lines from point A, Lemma III gives
(G, J; E, H) = (G, D; ∞, Z).
And for lines DE and DG cut by the lines from point B, Lemma III
gives ( E, K; D, L) = (G, D; ∞, Z).
Thus, (E, H; G, J) = (E, K; D, L). So, by Lemma X, the points
H, M, and K are collinear.

This theorem was the precursor of the projective plane and its ge-
ometry. After Pappus, this has been generalized in many ways.
Famously in 1639, at age 16, Pascal showed that this result was
also true for a hexagon inscribed in a conic curve.

114
PASCAL’S THEOREM
If six arbitrary points ABCDEF are cho-
sen on a conic (an ellipse, parabola, or
hyperbola) and joined by line segments
in any order to form a hexagon, then the
three pairs of opposite sides of the
hexagon meet at three points GHK
which are collinear. This is the Pascal
line of the hexagon.

Pappus's theorem is the special case of Pascal’s theorem for a

degenerate conic consisting of two lines when the plane cutting a
cone passes through the cone’s vertex. Another notable generali-
zation is the Cayley–Bacharach theorem (1886) about cubic curves
in the projective plane, for which Pascal’s theorem is a special
case.

PAPPUS’ CENTROID THEOREMS

1ST CENTROID THEOREM
The surface area A of a surface of revolution generated by rotating
a plane curve C about an axis external to C and on the same plane
is equal to the product of the arc length s of C and the distance d
traveled by the geometric centroid of C. That is, A = sd.
For example, the surface area of a torus with major radius R and
minor radius r is:
𝐴 = (2𝜋𝑟)(2𝜋𝑅) = 4𝜋 2 𝑅𝑟
2ND CENTROID THEOREM
The volume V of a solid of revolution generated by rotating a plane
figure F about an external axis is equal to the product of the area
A of F and the distance d traveled by the geometric centroid of F.
That is V = Ad.
For example, the volume of a torus with major radius R and minor
radius r is:
𝑉 = (𝜋𝑟 2 )(2𝜋𝑅) = 2𝜋 2 𝑅𝑟 2

115
 EPILOG

After Pappus, there were no significant new works in Greek geom-

etry. Nevertheless, many mathematicians wrote commentaries on
the known works. This preserved much geometry that would have
been lost otherwise. But many of these were more than just a copy
and had additional explanations, perhaps for students. Some of
these commentators were.

THEON OF ALEXANDRIA
(335~405)
Theon is famous for his commentaries on many works such as
Ptolemy's Almagest and Euclid’s Elements. He also produced a
commentary on Euclid's Optics and his Data.

HYPATIA OF ALEXANDRIA
(370-415)
Hypatia was the daughter of Theon and helped him with his com-
mentaries on the Almagest and Euclid’s Elements. She also wrote
commentaries on Diophantus' Arithmetica, Apollonius' Conics, and
Ptolemy's other astronomical works.

117
 EUTOCIUS OF ASCALON
(480-540)
Eutocius wrote commentaries on three works of Archimedes,
namely On the Sphere and Cylinder, Measurement of the Circle,
and On Plane Equilibria. Eutocius also edited and wrote commen-
taries on the first 4 Books of the Conics of Apollonius, which may
explain why only these four survived in Greek. He further gave an
account of the solutions for the problem of the duplication of the
cube by Archytas, Menaechmus, Nicomedes, Philon, Apollonius,
and Heron.

PROCLUS DIADOCHUS
(411-485)
Proclus studied philosophy at Plato's Academy in Athens and pro-
gressed to become head of the Academy. Proclus wrote Commen-
tary on Euclid which is our main source about the early history of
Greek geometry. For this, he certainly used the History of Geome-
try by Eudemus, which is now lost. He also wrote Hypotyposis, an
introduction to the astronomical theories of Hipparchus and
Ptolemy.

SIMPLICIUS
(490-560)
Simplicius studied philosophy at the Academy, and in 529 when
Emperor Justinian closed the Academy, he left Greece and went to
Persia. After a treaty in 532 between Rome and Persia, he returned
to Athens. He could write and do research but was not allowed to
lecture. He wrote commentaries on Aristotle’s De Caelo and
Physics. In these, Simplicius quoted from Eudemus' History of
Astronomy, giving a detailed account of the concentric spheres of
Eudoxus. He also quotes Eudemus on Antiphon's attempts to
square the circle and the work of Hippocrates when he squared
lunes.

118
 THE END
(529-642)

In 529, the Christian Roman Emperor Justinian closed the schools

in Athens, which he regarded as pagan, and shut down Greek ge-
ometry. However, Greek geometry had seriously declined before
that. This decline began with the purging of intellectuals from Alex-
andria in 145 BC. The Romans never cared much about mathemat-
ics and had already stopped supporting and funding the Great
Library of Alexandria by 260. Then in 642, Alexandria was captured
by a Muslim army, whose Caliph Omar ordered the destruction of
the Great Library.

119
 REFERENCES

GENERAL
MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive,
University of St Andrews, Scotland
https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/
This is an extensive collection of biographies for all mathemati-
cians and is maintained by professional historians. We used it as
our baseline information for all the geometers presented in this
book. We have extracted information of interest for our overview
and added a lot of other information, mostly technical such as
theorem statements, diagrams, and proofs.

Wikipedia.org
This site has something about almost everything. We used it as a
secondary source for every person and topic in this book. Since
Wikipedia depends on individuals contributing to it, we tried to ver-
ify all information we got from it. If there was a conflict with the
MacTutor Archive, then MacTutor would override Wikipedia, un-
less we had another reliable source, such as an actual historical
document. Nevertheless, a large amount of material was taken
from Wikipedia.

121
Encyclopedia.com
This site is another reliable source of biographies for all geome-
ters in the book. It was used to verify information from other
sources and it often had additional technical information.

In addition to biographies, some general references were relevant

for several sections of this book.
Pythagorean Theorem:
wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagorean_theorem
Pythagorean Triple:
wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagorean_triple
Squaring the Circle:
mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Squaring_the_circle/
Doubling the Cube:
mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Doubling_the_cube/
Trisecting an Angle:
mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Trisecting_an_angle/
Method of Exhaustion:
wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_exhaustion
Platonic solids:
wikipedia.org/wiki/Platonic_solid
Heath, A History of Greek Mathematics, Vol 1, From Thales to
Euclid, Oxford Univ Press (1921)
Heath, A History of Greek Mathematics, Vol 2, From Aristarchus
to Diophantus, Oxford Univ Press (1921)

122
SPECIFIC
There were also some specific references with amplifying infor-
mation for certain people or topics. We list these references under
the name of the geometer to whom they pertain, in the order that
they appear in this book.

BABYLON
Sumerian Civilization
it.stlawu.edu/~dmelvill/mesomath/index.html

Pythagoras In Babylon
mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/
Babylonian_Pythagoras/

Yale Tablet
it.stlawu.edu/~dmelvill/mesomath/tablets/YBC7289.html

Plimpton Tablet
aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/mathhist/plimpnote.html

Tell Dhibai Tablet

wikipedia.org/wiki/IM_67118

EGYPT
Moscow Papyrus
wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_Mathematical_Papyrus

Rhind Papyrus
wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhind_Mathematical_Papyrus

INDIA
The Sulbasutras
mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Indian_sulbasutras/

Baudhayana
mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Baudhayana/

Manava:
mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Manava/

123
Apastamba:
mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Apastamba/

THALES
Thales Theorem
wikipedia.org/wiki/Thales%27s_theorem

Thales Intercept Theorem

wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercept_theorem

PYTHAGORAS
Pythagorean Means
wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagorean_means

Golden Rectangle
wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_rectangle

Golden Ratio
wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ratio

HIPPOCRATES
Lune of Hippocrates
wikipedia.org/wiki/Lune_of_Hippocrates

HIPPIAS
Quadratrix of Hippias
wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadratrix_of_Hippias

PLATO
Theory of Forms
wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato#The_Forms

EUDOXUS
Archimedean Property (aka the Axiom of Eudoxus)
wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedean_property

DINOSTRATUS
Quadratrix of Dinostratus
wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadratrix_of_Hippias

124
Dinostratus' Theorem
wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinostratus%27_theorem

EUCLID OF ALEXANDRIA
The Elements Books I-XII
aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/java/elements/elements.html

Mitchell, D.W. (July 2001), "An Alternative Characterization of All

Primitive Pythagorean Triples", The Math Gazette, 85 (503)

ARCHIMEDES OF SYRACUSE
Law of the Lever
wikipedia.org/wiki/Lever#Law_of_the_lever

On the Equilibrium of Planes

wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Equilibrium_of_Planes

On the Sphere and Cylinder

wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Sphere_and_Cylinder

Measurement of a Circle
wikipedia.org/wiki/Measurement_of_a_Circle

On Spirals
wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Spirals

Archimedean Spiral
wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedean_spiral

Book of Lemmas
stmarys-ca.edu/sites/default/files/attachments/files/
Book_of_Lemmas.pdf

Archimedean Polyhedron
wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedean_solid

Quadrature of the Parabola

math.ubc.ca/~cass/archimedes/parabola.html

125
Method of Mechanical Theorems
wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_Mechanical_Theorems

Archimedes Palimpsest
wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes_Palimpsest

Cavalieri’s method of indivisibles

wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonaventura_Cavalieri

APOLLONIUS OF PERGA
Teliaferro and Fried, Apollonius Conics: Books I-IV,
Green Lion Press (2013)

Conics
wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollonius_of_Perga#Conics

Conic Sections and Constructions

whistleralley.com/conics/

Tangent Circles
whistleralley.com/tangents/tangents.htm

Apollonius’s Problem
wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_of_Apollonius

Apollonius's Ellipse and Evolute Revisited

maa.org/book/export/html/116798

DIOCLES
Cissoid of Diocles
wikipedia.org/wiki/Cissoid_of_Diocles

THEODOSIUS
Theodosius, Sphaerica III 3
web.calstatela.edu/faculty/hmendel/Ancient%20Mathematics/
Theodosius/Sphaerica/iii.3/Theod.Sph.iii.3.html

MENELAUS OF ALEXANDRIA
Sphaerica (English Translation)
csusm-dspace.calstate.edu/handle/10211.3/158652

126
CLAUDIUS PTOLEMY
Almagest site
jonvoisey.net/blog/2018/05/almagest-index/

Ptolemy’s Table of Chords

hypertextbook.com/eworld/chords/

Table of Chords
jonvoisey.net/blog/2018/06/
almagest-book-i-ptolemys-table-of-chords/

PAPPUS OF ALEXANDRIA
Pappus's hexagon theorem
wikipedia.org/wiki/Pappus%27s_hexagon_theorem

Pascal’s theorem
wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal%27s_theorem

Pappus’s Centroid Theorem

wikipedia.org/wiki/Pappus%27s_centroid_theorem

127