A History of Mathematics Quotes

“Among the later Pythagoreans, Philolaus and Archytas are the most prominent.”

“What the Pythagorean method of proof was has been a favourite topic for conjecture.”

“Like Egyptian geometry, the geometry of the Pythagoreans is much concerned with areas.”

“Some problems in this [Rhind] papyrus seem to imply a rudimentary knowledge of proportion.”

“Diogenes Laertius describes Eudoxus as astronomer, physician, legislator, as well as geometer.”

“Wikisource: A History of Mathematics”

“Another reason for the desirability of historical study is the value of historical knowledge to the teacher of mathematics.”

“A History of Mathematics (1906, original-1893)”

“In his study of the quadrature and duplication-problems, Hippocrates contributed much to the geometry of the circle.”

“Pythagoras called the sphere the most beautiful of all solids, and the circle the most beautiful of all plane figures.”

“The division of the day into 24 hours, and of the hour into minutes and seconds on the scale of 60, is due to the Babylonians.”

“The immediate successors of Euclid in the mathematical school at Alexandria were probably Conon, Dositheus, and Zeuxippus, but little is known of them.”

“The Quadrature of the Parabola contains two solutions to the problem -- one mechanical, the other geometrical. The method of exhaustion is used in both.”

“It is now generally admitted that the duplication problem, as well as the trisection and quadrature problems, cannot be solved by means of the ruler and compass only.”

“The principal defect of Egyptian arithmetic was the lack of a simple comprehensive symbolism, a defect which not even the Greeks were able to remove.”

“In his historical talk it is possible for the teacher to make it plain to the student that mathematics is not a dead science, but a living one in which steady progress is made.”

“Archimedes studied also the ellipse and accomplished its quadrature, but to the hyperbola he seems to have paid less attention. It is believed that he wrote a book on conic sections.”

“The star-shaped pentagram was used as a symbol of recognition by the Pythagoreans, and was called by them Health.”

“Of the largest numbers written in cuneiform symbols, which have hitherto been found, none go as high as a million.”

“The fame of the academy of Plato is to a large extent due to Eudoxus's pupils of the school at Cyzicus, among whom are Menaechmus, Dinostratus, Athenaeus, and Helicon.”