History of geometry lost. He was brought to the university at Alexandria by Ptolemy I, King of Egypt. "The Elements" began with definitions of terms, fundamental geometric principles (called "axioms" or "postulates"), and general quantitative principles (called "common notions") from which all the rest of geometry could be logically deduced. Following are his five axioms, somewhat paraphrased to make the English easier to read. Concepts, that are now understood as algebra, were expressed geometrically by Euclid, a method referred to as Greek geometric algebra. Archimedes (287-212 BC), of Syracuse, Sicily, when it was a Greek city-state, is often considered to be the greatest
Elements of Algebra Elements of Algebra Elements of Algebra is an elementary mathematics textbook written by mathematician Leonhard Euler and originally published in 1770 in German. "Elements of Algebra" is one of the earliest books to set out algebra in the modern form we would recognize today (another early book being "Elements of Algebra" by Nicholas Saunderson, published in 1740), and is one of Euler's few writings, along with "Letters to a German Princess", that are accessible to the general public. Written in numbered paragraphs as was common practice till the 19th century, "Elements" begins with the definition of mathematics and builds on