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Euclidean geometry is a mathematical system attributed to ancient Greek mathematician Euclid, which he described in his textbook on geometry, Elements.Euclid's approach consists in assuming a small set of intuitively appealing axioms (postulates) and deducing many other propositions from these.
If the sum of the interior angles α and β is less than 180°, the two straight lines, produced indefinitely, meet on that side. In geometry, the parallel postulate, also called Euclid's fifth postulate because it is the fifth postulate in Euclid's Elements, is a distinctive axiom in Euclidean geometry.
These postulates are all based on basic geometry that can be confirmed experimentally with a scale and protractor. Since the postulates build upon the real numbers, the approach is similar to a model-based introduction to Euclidean geometry. Birkhoff's axiomatic system was utilized in the secondary-school textbook by Birkhoff and Beatley. [2]
The books cover plane and solid Euclidean geometry, elementary number theory, and incommensurable lines. Elements is the oldest extant large-scale deductive treatment of mathematics. It has proven instrumental in the development of logic and modern science , and its logical rigor was not surpassed until the 19th century.
Removing five axioms mentioning "plane" in an essential way, namely I.4–8, and modifying III.4 and IV.1 to omit mention of planes, yields an axiomatization of Euclidean plane geometry. Hilbert's axioms, unlike Tarski's axioms , do not constitute a first-order theory because the axioms V.1–2 cannot be expressed in first-order logic .
Euclid (/ ˈ j uː k l ɪ d /; Ancient Greek: Εὐκλείδης; fl. 300 BC) was an ancient Greek mathematician active as a geometer and logician. [2] Considered the "father of geometry", [3] he is chiefly known for the Elements treatise, which established the foundations of geometry that largely dominated the field until the early 19th century.
The axiomatic foundation of Euclidean geometry can be dated back to the books known as Euclid's Elements (circa 300 B.C.). These five initial axioms (called postulates by the ancient Greeks) are not sufficient to establish Euclidean geometry. Many mathematicians have produced complete sets of axioms which do establish Euclidean geometry.
Furthermore, rectangles can exist (a statement equivalent to the parallel postulate) only in Euclidean geometry. A Saccheri quadrilateral is a quadrilateral which has two sides of equal length, both perpendicular to a side called the base. The other two angles of a Saccheri quadrilateral are called the summit angles and they have equal measure ...