The wonder book of geometry : a mathematical story /
Acheson, D. J.,author.
"How can we be sure that Pythagoras's theorem is really true? Why is the 'angle in a semicircle' always 90 degrees? And how can tangents help determine the speed of a bullet? Following in the footsteps of his bestselling The Calculus Story, David Acheson offers a highly illustrated tour of geometry, from ancient Greece to the present day, packed with elegant deductions and wide applications. And along the way, he uncovers some of the loveliest surprises in mathematics"--Jacket.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Getting started -- Euclid's Elements : Euclid, 1732 -- Thales' theorem : the mathematical world of ancient Greece -- Geometry in action -- Pythagoras' theorem -- 'In love with geometry'? : 371 proofs of Pythagoras -- "Imagine my exultation, Watson..." -- Congruence and similarity : the golden ration -- Conversely... -- Circle theorems -- Off at a Tangent -- From tangents to supersonic flow : Galileo and Thales' theorem -- What is pi, exactly? -- The story of the ellipse -- Geometry by coordinates : Inspector Euclid investigates... -- Geometry and calculus -- A royal road to geometry? -- Unexpected meetings -- Ceva's theorem : some further slices of Pi -- A kind of symmetry -- 'Pyracy' in Woolwich? -- Femat's problem -- A soap solution -- Geometry in The Ladies' Diary : Euclid, 1847 -- What Euclid did -- Euclid on parallel lines : proof by picture? -- 'A new theory of parallels'? -- Anti-Euclid? -- When geometry goes wrong... -- New angles on geometry -- And finally...
"How can we be sure that Pythagoras's theorem is really true? Why is the 'angle in a semicircle' always 90 degrees? And how can tangents help determine the speed of a bullet? Following in the footsteps of his bestselling The Calculus Story, David Acheson offers a highly illustrated tour of geometry, from ancient Greece to the present day, packed with elegant deductions and wide applications. And along the way, he uncovers some of the loveliest surprises in mathematics"--Jacket.
Geometry.
Mathematics