QuotesCosmos
Sir Thomas Little Heath, The Thirteen Books of Euclid's Elements (1908) Vol.1 Introduction and Books I, II p.17, citing Proclus p. 69 3; Musici Scriptores Graeci, ed. Jan (Teubner, 1895) pp. 113-166; Jan, Musici Scriptores Graeci, p. 116
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Euclid is said to have written the Elements of Music. Two treatises are attributed to Euclid in... the Musici, the... Sectio canonis (the theory of the intervals) and the... (introduction to harmony). The first, resting on the Pythagorean theory of music, is mathematical and clearly and well written, the style and the form of the propositions agreeing well with what we find in the Elements. Its genuineness is confirmed not only by internal evidence... Euclid is twice mentioned by name, in the commentary on Ptolemy's Harmonica published by Wallis... The second treatise is not Euclid's...

— Sir Thomas Little Heath

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Euclid is said to have written the Elements of Music. Two treatises are attributed to Euclid in... the Musici, the... Sectio canonis (the theory of the intervals) and the... (introduction to harmony). The first, resting on the Pythagorean theory of music, is mathematical and clearly and well written, the style and the form of the propositions agreeing well with what we find in the Elements. Its genuineness is confirmed not only by internal evidence... Euclid is twice mentioned by name, in the commentary on Ptolemy's Harmonica published by Wallis... The second treatise is not Euclid's..." in the context of "Sir Thomas Little Heath, The Thirteen Books of Euclid's Elements (1908) Vol.1 Introduction and Books I, II p.17, citing Proclus p. 69 3; Musici Scriptores Graeci, ed. Jan (Teubner, 1895) pp. 113-166; Jan, Musici Scriptores Graeci, p. 116" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Euclid" (Quotes about Euclid) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

Tags

#Euclid#euclid#elements#written#theory#music#introduction#mathematical#propositions#pythagorean#genuineness#attributed
Euclid

About Euclid

Euclid (Greek: Εὐκλείδης), also known as Euclid of Alexandria, was a Greek mathematician, often referred to as the "founder of geometry" or the "father of geometry". He was active in Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy I (323–283 BC). His Elements is one of the most influential works in the history of mathematics, serving as the main textbook for teaching mathematics (especially geometry) from the time of its publication until the late 19th or early 20th century. In the Elements, Euclid deduced the theorems of what is now called Euclidean geometry from a small set of axioms. Euclid also wrote works on perspective, conic sections, spherical geometry, number theory, and mathematical rigour.