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P. Oxy. 29, one of the oldest surviving fragments of Euclid's Elements, a textbook used for millennia to teach proof-writing techniques. The diagram accompanies Book II, Proposition 5. [1] A mathematical proof is a deductive argument for a mathematical statement, showing that the stated assumptions logically guarantee the
The Elements introduced mathematical rigor through the axiomatic method and is the earliest example of the format still used in mathematics today, that of definition, axiom, theorem, and proof. Although most of the contents of the Elements were already known, Euclid arranged them into a single, coherent logical framework. [ 61 ]
The Elements (Ancient Greek: Στοιχεῖα Stoikheîa) is a mathematical treatise consisting of 13 books attributed to the ancient Greek mathematician Euclid c. 300 BC. It is a collection of definitions, postulates, propositions (theorems and constructions), and mathematical proofs of the propositions.
Euclid (/ ˈ j uː k l ɪ d /; Ancient Greek: Εὐκλείδης; fl. 300 BC) was an ancient Greek mathematician active as a geometer and logician. [2] Considered the "father of geometry", [3] he is chiefly known for the Elements treatise, which established the foundations of geometry that largely dominated the field until the early 19th century.
Fermat's little theorem and some proofs; Gödel's completeness theorem and its original proof; Mathematical induction and a proof; Proof that 0.999... equals 1; Proof that 22/7 exceeds π; Proof that e is irrational; Proof that π is irrational; Proof that the sum of the reciprocals of the primes diverges
He also wrote over 4500 letters and hundreds of manuscripts. It has been estimated that Leonhard Euler was the author of a quarter of the combined output in mathematics, physics, mechanics, astronomy, and navigation in the 18th century, while other researchers credit Euler for a third of the output in mathematics in that century. [9]
Thales (635–543 BC) of Miletus (now in southwestern Turkey), was the first to whom deduction in mathematics is attributed. There are five geometric propositions for which he wrote deductive proofs, though his proofs have not survived.
Greek mathematics constitutes an important period in the history of mathematics: fundamental in respect of geometry and for the idea of formal proof. [44] Greek mathematicians also contributed to number theory , mathematical astronomy , combinatorics , mathematical physics , and, at times, approached ideas close to the integral calculus .