Geometry

From Citizendium
Revision as of 14:08, 26 September 2007 by imported>Subpagination Bot (Add {{subpages}} and remove any categories (details))
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This article is a stub and thus not approved.
Main Article
Discussion
Related Articles  [?]
Bibliography  [?]
External Links  [?]
Citable Version  [?]
 
This editable Main Article is under development and subject to a disclaimer.

In common parlance, geometry is a branch of mathematics that studies the relationships between figures such as points, lines, polygons, solids, vectors, surfaces and others in a space, such as plane, a higher dimensional Euclidean space, a sphere or other non-Euclidean space, or more generally, a manifold.

As a mathematical term, geometry refers to either the spatial (metric) properties of a given space or, more specifically in differential geometry, a given complete locally homogeneous Riemannian manifold.

History of geometry

The ancient Greeks developed the formal structure of geometry, including the use of mathematical proofs to demonstrate claims, and distinguishing between axioms, definitions, and theorems. Euclid, a Greek mathematician living in Alexandria about 300 BC wrote a 13-volume book of geometry titled The Elements (Στοιχεῖα), which set forth in a structured way the geometrical knowledge of the Greeks.