History of geometry Euclid (c. 325-265 BC), of Alexandria, probably a student at the Academy founded by Plato, wrote a treatise in 13 books (chapters), titled "The Elements of Geometry", in which he presented geometry in an ideal axiomatic form, which came to be known as Euclidean geometry. The treatise is not a compendium of all that the Hellenistic mathematicians knew at the time about geometry; Euclid himself wrote eight more advanced books on geometry. We know from other references that Euclid’s was not the first elementary geometry textbook, but it was so much superior that the others fell into disuse and were
Ptolemy II Philadelphus Ptolemy II Philadelphus Ptolemy II Philadelphus (, "Ptolemaîos Philádelphos" "Ptolemy, lover of his sister"; 308/9–246 BCE) was the king of Ptolemaic Egypt from 283 to 246 BCE. He was the son of Ptolemy I Soter, the Macedonian Greek general of Alexander the Great who founded the Ptolemaic Kingdom after the death of Alexander, and queen Berenice I, originally from Macedon in northern Greece. During Ptolemy II's reign, the material and literary splendour of the Alexandrian court was at its height. He promoted the Museum and Library of Alexandria. He erected a commemorative stele, the Great Mendes Stela. He also led