The History Behind Geometry

Geometry is the science of shapes and size of things

. This science of measuring things began when people felt the need to discover something so that they could actually measure different day to day items. The word geometry means to measure the earth. There is a particular story related to the emergence of geometry. It is believed that once an Egyptian pharaoh wanted to tax farmers who raised crops along the Nile River.

But the pharaoh failed to measure the tax clearly because they couldnt measure the amount of land being cultivated. This is the first time that someone felt the need of geometry. The earliest record of a formula to measure the area of a triangle dates back to 2000 BC. The Egyptians and the Babylonians are said to develop practical geometry to solve day to day problems. But scholars doubt whether they used logical methods to deduct geometrical facts based on basic principles. In 2900 BC, the first pyramid was constructed in Egypt. The pyramids in the Egypt are great examples of geometrical excellence. The knowledge of geometry was essential for building pyramids, which consisted of a square base and triangular faces.

Though the Egyptians discovered and realized the importance of geometry, it was the Greeks who were credited with developing the logical formula of modern geometry. Thales of Miletus is credited with bringing the science of geometry from Egypt to Greece. Thales studied similar triangles and wrote the proof that corresponding sides of similar triangles are in proportion. Another Greek mathematician improved the theory of Thales to logically deduce geometric facts from basic principles.

This Greek geometer was Pythagoras, who pursued knowledge in mathematics, science, and philosophy. According to some people, Pythagorean School was the birthplace of reason and logical thought. Pythagorean Theorem was the most famous and important contribution of the Pythagoreans. The theory states that the sum of the squares of the legs of a right triangle equals the square of the hypotenuse. There is a group of people who consider Euclid of Alexandria as the father of modern geometry. He was a great Greek geometer who is known for his famous 13-book treatise The Elements. The Element has a profound impact on the development of western civilization and is considered as one of the important works in history.

Until the appearance of Rene Descartes (1596-1650), there was no major development in Geometry. In his treatise Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting the Reason in the Search for Truth in the Sciences, Descartes combined algebra and geometry to create analytic geometry. Analytic geometry, also celebrated as coordinate geometry, involves placing a geometric figure into a synchronize system to illustrate testimony and to obtain information using arithmetical equations. The modern geometrician Benoit Mandelbrot recently developed a geometrical theorem known as fractal geometry. He discussed about this particular form of geometry in his book The Fractal Geometry of Nature, published in 1982. A fractal is a geometric shape, which has fractional dimensions. The magic of Geometry as a subject has a beauty of its own. We cant even imagine our modern day life without geometry.

by: smitha07

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