A Sentence From Euclid Hints At Hidden Universes

Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Maths, Mathematics Education, History of Science

Ed Hessler

I don't write much about mathematics, especially its history. Some of it is my natural lean to science and environmental science which means I don't wander much into the world of mathematics and its development This is a lacuna which I will never fill.

Veritasium has a great video titled How One Line In The Oldest Math Text Hinted At Hidden Universes. (31 m 11 s) . The text is Euclid's Elements which adds a bonus to the discussion to follow of the hint - a single sentence, namely a look at the book itself. I hadn't realized that Euclid's Elements has been published and republished so many times. 

Veritasium is a channel of science and engineering videos from which I've snatched a post or two.  The videos are beautifully done. The name, according to the Wiki entry about Derek Muller, is defined this way  "The name Veritasium is a combination of the Latin word for truth, Veritas, and the suffix common to many elements, -ium. This creates Veritasium, an "element of truth...".

 

I enjoyed learning about this while not understanding everything.