Euclid's Elements Euclid's Elements The Elements ( "Stoicheia") is a mathematical treatise consisting of 13 books attributed to the ancient Greek mathematician Euclid in Alexandria, Ptolemaic Egypt c. 300 BC. It is a collection of definitions, postulates, propositions (theorems and constructions), and mathematical proofs of the propositions. The books cover plane and solid Euclidean geometry, elementary number theory, and incommensurable lines. "Elements" is the oldest extant large-scale deductive treatment of mathematics. It has proven instrumental in the development of logic and modern science, and its logical rigor was not surpassed until the 19th century. Euclid's "Elements" has been referred to as the
Ptolemy II Philadelphus in the Library of Alexandria to the Capodimonte Palace by Gioacchino Murat and then in 1867 moved to the Palazzo Reale di Napoli, before being given to the Camera dei deputati in Palazzo Montecitorio in Rome. It later returned to Naples and since 1997 has hung in its original position in Room 31 of the Royal Apartments, also known as the Salone della Culla. Ptolemy II Philadelphus in the Library of Alexandria Ptolemy Philadelphus in the Library of Alexandria is an 1813 oil on canvas painting by Vincenzo Camuccini. It is now in the National Museum of Capodimonte in Naples. The work was commissioned by