The Father of Geometry

In my researches, I found out that the one who discovered Geometry is Euclid.

Euclid was a Greek mathematician who lived in ancient Greek colony of Alexandria, in Egypt about 300 B. C.. He is sometimes called as the "Father of Geometry." His geometry textbook which is called, Elements, has appeared in more than 1,000 editions since printing was invented.

I also learned that Euclid's greatest contribution lay in the way in which he approached geometrical problems. His starting point are five postulates- statements that he decided were true.

Other mathematicians have long accepted four of Euclid's postulates, but the fifth was never proved. The fifth statement says that the two parallel lines will always stay the same distance apart, no matter how long you make them. A man named Riemann used a different postulate that says that all straight lines intersect. This "non-Euclidean geometry" was used by Albert Einstein in his Theory of Relativity.

King Ptolomy of Egypt once asked Euclid if he could not make his mathematics Easier, and Euclid humbly replied, "Sire, there is no royal road to geometry."


Since Euclid's time, many new properties of figures have been discovered, and today the study of geometry is offered in most schools.

Geometry is one of the most important branches of mathematics.