Greek History Overview MATH 392 – Geometry Through History January 27, 2016

Greek History OverviewMATH 392 – Geometry Through History January 27, 2016

The Greek World – pre-Alexander Centered on the Aegean Sea, modern-day Greece and Turkey

Greek History Outline, part 1 ~1600 - ~1200 BCE – Bronze Age; time of the Iliad and Odyssey (to the extent they record real history – a much-debated question) ~1200 - ~750 BCE – “Dark Ages”; written language lost, oral traditions (including the epics) maintained 750 – 500 BCE – Archaic period; Thales of Miletus; “birth of demonstrative mathematics,” Pythagoras born in Samos 572 BCE – moves to Crotona in Italy, founds Pythagorean brotherhood, dies after 500 BCE

Greek History Outline, part 2 ~500 – ~340 BCE – Classical period Early phase dominated by wars with Persian empire; eventually Athens emerges as leading city-state

Greek History Outline, part 3 Ascendancy of Athens challenged by Sparta and other city states – Peloponnesian War 431 – 404 BCE – leads to defeat of Athens. Plato, ~425 – ~348 BCE: Academy founded in Athens 387 BCE (“Let no one unversed in geometry enter here”)

Mathematical Athens Plato's epistemology (philosophy of knowledge) put mathematics in a central role Athens also a “hotbed” of what we would call mathematical research: Eudoxus, 408-355 BCE – theory of proportions; developed “method of exhaustion,” a precursor of integral calculus Menaechmus, 380-320 BCE – work anticipating conic sections Aristotle, 384-322 BCE – not a mathematician as such but active in development of logic.

Greek History, part 4 – Alexander ``the Great'' Tutored by Aristotle (no mathematics, though) Crushes the Persian empire, conquers everything between the Mediterranean and India (336 BCE – 323 BCE). Dies in Babylon. Founds Alexandria in Egypt, 332 BCE

Greek History Outline, part 5 “Hellenistic” period After his death, Alexander's empire is divided between several of his generals, who found dynasties that last through the Hellenistic Period – Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt, Seleucid dynasty in Syria and Mesopotamia Alexandria becomes foremost center of mathematical work in the world at this time. Famous Library and Museum or “university” were the focus – Euclid an early leader there

Euclid Not much known about him personally – no firm dates of birth or death, place of birth, etc. Proclus (~450 CE): “This man lived in the time of the first Ptolemy; for Archimedes, who followed closely on the first Ptolemy makes mention of Euclid … . He is therefore younger than Plato's circle but older than Eratosthenes and Archimedes … . In his aim he was a Platonist, … , whence he made the end of the whole Elements the construction of the so-called Platonic figures.”

Traditions and anecdotes Euclid trained at the Academy in Athens and then moved to Alexandria, where he had many students. Developed his most famous work, TheElements, a summary of basic mathematics known to his time, drawing on works of Eudoxus, Theaetetus, other earlier mathematicians. Elements used as a textbook, from the start. Anecdotes about Euclid as a teacher also preserved(!)

The Elements Earliest known complete manuscripts ~900 CE -- about 1200 years after Euclid's death.(Other earlier fragments too.) Most editions derive from a version with commentary by Theon, a later Alexandrian mathematician from about 400 CE -- 700 years after Euclid's time(!). In 1808, an earlier version was recognized in the Vatican Library in Rome, with not too many differences -- text was remarkably stable!

Two pages of the Vatican Euclid

Comments on Euclid There were other Elements before Euclid's (Plato's Academy used a geometry text by Theudius, for instance.) None of them survive! Euclid quickly superseded all those predecessors and “competitors” and put them “out of business.” Study of Euclid was a traditional cornerstone of Jesuit education – Christopher Clavius, S.J. made a widely-used translation (published in 1627 CE, after his death).

Post-Euclid Greek Mathematics Archimedes (287 – 212 BCE) Active in Syracuse in Sicily. Greatest mathematician of the ancient world, built on Eudoxus, work foreshadows calculus 1800 years later Apollonius of Perga (Alexandria: 262 – 190 BCE) – deeper study of conic sections, other geometrical loci Diophantus (Alexandria: dates uncertain)– focus on algebra and number theory Many others – almost all of them learned their basic mathematics from Euclid's Elements(!)

Greek History Overview MATH 392 – Geometry Through History January 27, 2016