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Euclide (around 300 B.C.)
lived in Alexandria, Egypt. After receiving his education, probably at Plato's Academy in
Athens, or from some of Plato's students, Euclid became a teacher and scholar at the
school in Alexandria known as the Museum. While there, he wrote his most influential work,
the Elements. In this treatise, consisting of thirteen books, Euclid compiled and
systematically arranged many of the major mathematical results known in his day. Beginning
with a list of definitions, postulates and axioms, he proved one proposition after
another, basing each proof only on those results that had preceded it. This axiomatic
method, as it is known today, served as the standard for scientific argumentation for
later generations. Likewise, the content of the Elements, consisting of geometry and
number theory, makes up part of the core of basic mathematics even today. |
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