History
In ancient India, the Sulbasutras (800 BCE to 500 BCE) were the manuals of geometrical constructions. The geometry of the Vedic period originated with the construction of altars (or vedis) and fireplaces for performing Vedic rites. The location of the sacred fires had to be in accordance to the clearly laid down instructions about their shapes and areas, if they were to be effective instruments.
Square and circular altars were used for household rituals, while altars whose shapes were combinations of rectangles, triangles and trapeziums were required for public worship. The sriyantra (given in the Atharvaveda) consists of nine interwoven isosceles triangles. These triangles are arranged in such a way that they produce 43 subsidiary triangles. Though accurate geometric methods were used for the constructions of altars, the principles behind them were not discussed.
Let see in detail.
A Greek mathematician, Thales is credited with giving the first known proof. This proof was of the statement that a circle is bisected (i.e., cut into two equal parts) by its diameter.
One of Thales’ most famous pupils was Pythagoras (572 BCE), whom you have heard about. Pythagoras and his group discovered many geometric properties and developed the theory of geometry to a great extent. This process continued till 300 BCE.
At that time Euclid, a teacher of mathematics at Alexandria in Egypt, collected all the known work and arranged it in his famous treatise, called ‘Elements’. He divided the ‘Elements’ into thirteen chapters, each called a book.
These books influenced the whole world’s understanding of geometry for generations to come.
In this chapter, we shall discuss Euclid’s approach to geometry and shall try to link it with the present day geometry.