History of geometry History of geometry Geometry (from the ; "geo-" "earth", "-metron" "measurement") arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers (arithmetic). Classic geometry was focused in compass and straightedge constructions. Geometry was revolutionized by Euclid, who introduced mathematical rigor and the axiomatic method still in use today. His book, "The Elements" is widely considered the most influential textbook of all time, and was known to all educated people in the West until the middle of the 20th century. In modern times, geometric
Ptolemy [[Category:Roman-era geographers]] [[Category:Giftedness]] Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , "Klaúdios Ptolemaîos" ; ; ) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, geographer and astrologer. He lived in the city of Alexandria in the Roman province of Egypt, wrote in Koine Greek, and held Roman citizenship. The 14th-century astronomer Theodore Meliteniotes gave his birthplace as the prominent Greek city Ptolemais Hermiou () in the Thebaid (). This attestation is quite late, however, and, according to Gerald Toomer, the translator of his "Almagest" into English, there is no reason to suppose he ever lived anywhere other than Alexandria. He died there around AD 168. Ptolemy