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However, Euclid's reasoning from assumptions to conclusions remains valid independently from the physical reality. [4] Near the beginning of the first book of the Elements, Euclid gives five postulates (axioms) for plane geometry, stated in terms of constructions (as translated by Thomas Heath): [5] Let the following be postulated:
The Elements (Ancient Greek: Στοιχεῖα Stoikheîa) is a mathematical treatise consisting of 13 books attributed to the ancient Greek mathematician Euclid c. 300 BC. It is a collection of definitions, postulates, propositions (theorems and constructions), and mathematical proofs of the propositions.
This postulate does not specifically talk about parallel lines; [1] it is only a postulate related to parallelism. Euclid gave the definition of parallel lines in Book I, Definition 23 [2] just before the five postulates. [3] Euclidean geometry is the study of geometry that satisfies all of Euclid's axioms, including the parallel postulate.
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.
Euclid's method consists in assuming a small set of intuitively appealing axioms, and deducing many other propositions from these. Although many of Euclid's results had been stated by earlier mathematicians, [7] Euclid was the first to show how these propositions could fit into a comprehensive deductive and logical system. [8]
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.
The very old problem of proving Euclid's Fifth Postulate, the "Parallel Postulate", from his first four postulates had never been forgotten. Beginning not long after Euclid, many attempted demonstrations were given, but all were later found to be faulty, through allowing into the reasoning some principle which itself had not been proved from ...
This, for instance, applies to all theorems in Euclid's Elements, Book I. An example of a theorem of Euclidean geometry which cannot be so formulated is the Archimedean property: to any two positive-length line segments S 1 and S 2 there exists a natural number n such that nS 1 is longer than S 2.