This lavishly illustrated book provides an unusually accessible approach to geometry by placing it in historical context. With concise discussions and carefully chosen illustrations the author brings the material to life by showing what problems motivated early geometers throughout the world. Geometry Civilized covers classical plane geometry, emphasizing the methods of Euclid but also drawing on advances made in China and India. It includes a wide range of problems, solutions, and illustrations, as well as a chapter on trigonometry, and prepares its readers for the study of solid geometry and conic sections.

The Russian edition of this book appeared in 1976 on the hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary of the historic day of February 23, 1826, when LobaeevskiI delivered his famous lecture on his discovery of non-Euclidean geometry. The importance of the discovery of non-Euclidean geometry goes far beyond the limits of geometry itself. It is safe to say that it was a turning point in the history of all mathematics. The scientific revolution of the seventeenth century marked the transition from "mathematics of constant magnitudes" to "mathematics of variable magnitudes. " During the seventies of the last century there occurred another scientific revolution. By that time mathematicians had become familiar with the ideas of non-Euclidean geometry and the algebraic ideas of group and field (all of which appeared at about the same time), and the (later) ideas of set theory. This gave rise to many geometries in addition to the Euclidean geometry previously regarded as the only conceivable possibility, to the arithmetics and algebras of many groups and fields in addition to the arith metic and algebra of real and complex numbers, and, finally, to new mathe matical systems, i. e. , sets furnished with various structures having no classical analogues. Thus in the 1870's there began a new mathematical era usually called, until the middle of the twentieth century, the era of modern mathe matics.

Introduces several mathematicians who contributed significantly to the history of geometry.

The present volume provides a fascinating overview of geometrical ideas and perceptions from the earliest cultures to the mathematical and artistic concepts of the 20th century. It is the English translation of the 3rd edition of the well-received German book “5000 Jahre Geometrie,” in which geometry is presented as a chain of developments in cultural history and their interaction with architecture, the visual arts, philosophy, science and engineering. Geometry originated in the ancient cultures along the Indus and Nile Rivers and in Mesopotamia, experiencing its first “Golden Age” in Ancient Greece. Inspired by the Greek mathematics, a new germ of geometry blossomed in the Islamic civilizations. Through the Oriental influence on Spain, this knowledge later spread to Western Europe. Here, as part of the medieval Quadrivium, the understanding of geometry was deepened, leading to a revival during the Renaissance. Together with parallel achievements in India, China, Japan and the ancient American cultures, the European approaches formed the ideas and branches of geometry we know in the modern age: coordinate methods, analytical geometry, descriptive and projective geometry in the 17th an 18th centuries, axiom systems, geometry as a theory with multiple structures and geometry in computer sciences in the 19th and 20th centuries. Each chapter of the book starts with a table of key historical and cultural dates and ends with a summary of essential contents of geometr y in the respective era. Compelling examples invite the reader to further explore the problems of geometry in ancient and modern times. The book will appeal to mathematicians interested in Geometry and to all readers with an interest in cultural history. From letters to the authors for the German language edition I hope it gets a translation, as there is no comparable work. Prof. J. Grattan-Guinness (Middlesex University London) "Five Thousand Years of Geometry" - I think it is the most handsome book I have ever seen from Springer and the inclusion of so many color plates really improves its appearance dramatically! Prof. J.W. Dauben (City University of New York) An excellent book in every respect. The authors have successfully combined the history of geometry with the general development of culture and history. ... The graphic design is also excellent. Prof. Z. Nádenik (Czech Technical University in Prague)

In this textbook the authors present first-year geometry roughly in the order in which it was discovered. The first five chapters show how the ancient Greeks established geometry, together with its numerous practical applications, while more recent findings on Euclidian geometry are discussed as well. The following three chapters explain the revolution in geometry due to the progress made in the field of algebra by Descartes, Euler and Gauss. Spatial geometry, vector algebra and matrices are treated in chapters 9 and 10. The last chapter offers an introduction to projective geometry, which emerged in the 19thcentury. Complemented by numerous examples, exercises, figures and pictures, the book offers both motivation and insightful explanations, and provides stimulating and enjoyable reading for students and teachers alike.

This study presents the concepts and contributions from before the Alexandrian Age through to Fermat and Descartes, and on through Newton and Euler to the "Golden Age," from 1789 to 1850. 1956 edition. Analytical bibliography. Index.

This volume investigates the evolution of the geometry curriculum in the United States over the past 150 years. A primary goal is to increase awareness of the shape and nature of the current geometry curriculum by explaining how things have come to be as they are. Given the limited access to first-hand accounts of the enacted geometry curriculum during the past 150 years, the monograph relies on textbooks to provide a record of the implemented curriculum at any given point in time. Policy documents can provide insight into the choices made in textbooks by hinting at the issues considered and the recommendations made. The monograph is organized in a chronological sequence of "notable events" leading to discernable changes in thinking about the geometry curriculum over the past century and a half—roughly the extent of time during which geometry has been taught in American schools. Notable events include important reports or commissions, influential texts, new schools of thought, and developments in learning technologies. These events affected, among other things: content and aims of the geometry curriculum; the nature of mathematical activity as construed by both mathematicians and mathematics educators; and, the resources students are given for engaging in mathematical activity. Before embarking through the notable events, it is necessary to consider the "big bang" of geometry, namely the moment in time that shaped the future life of the geometry curriculum. This corresponds to the emergence of Euclidean geometry. Given its influence on the shape of the geometry curriculum, familiarity with the nature of the geometry articulated in Euclid’s Elements is essential to understanding the many tensions that surround the school geometry curriculum. Several themes emerge over the course of the monograph, and include: the aims and means of the geometry curriculum, the importance of proof in geometry, the role of visualization and tactile experiences, the fusion between solid and plane geometry, the curricular connections between geometry and algebra, and the use of motion and continuity. The intended audience would include curriculum developers, researchers, teachers, and curriculum supervisors.