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Menaechmus
Menaechmus (, c. 380 – c. 320 BC) was an ancient Greek mathematician, list of geometers, geometer and philosopher born in Alopeconnesus or Prokonnesos in the Thracian Chersonese, who was known for his friendship with the renowned philosopher Plato and for his apparent discovery of conic sections and his solution to the then-long-standing problem of doubling the cube using the parabola and hyperbola. Life and work Menaechmus is remembered by mathematicians for his discovery of the conic sections and his solution to the problem of doubling the cube. Menaechmus likely discovered the conic sections, that is, the ellipse, the parabola, and the hyperbola, as a by-product of his search for the solution to the Delian problem. Menaechmus knew that in a parabola y2 = ''L''x, where ''L'' is a constant called the ''latus rectum'', although he was not aware of the fact that any equation in two unknowns determines a curve. He apparently derived these properties of conic sections and others ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duplication Of The Cube
Doubling the cube, also known as the Delian problem, is an ancient geometry, geometric problem. Given the Edge (geometry), edge of a cube, the problem requires the construction of the edge of a second cube whose volume is double that of the first. As with the related problems of squaring the circle and trisecting the angle, doubling the cube is now known to be impossible to construct by using only a compass and straightedge, but even in ancient times solutions were known that employed other methods. According to Eutocius, Archytas was the first to solve the problem of doubling the cube (the so-called Delian problem) with an ingenious geometric construction. The nonexistence of a compass-and-straightedge solution was finally proven by Pierre Wantzel in 1837. In algebraic terms, doubling a unit cube requires the construction of a line segment of length , where ; in other words, , the cube root of two. This is because a cube of side length 1 has a volume of , and a cube of twice tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dinostratus
Dinostratus (; c. 390 – c. 320 BCE) was a Greece, Greek mathematician and geometer, and the brother of Menaechmus. He is known for using the quadratrix to solve the problem of squaring the circle. Life and work Dinostratus' chief contribution to mathematics was his solution to the problem of squaring the circle. To solve this problem, Dinostratus made use of the trisectrix of Hippias, for which he proved a special property (Dinostratus' theorem) that allowed him the squaring of the circle. Due to his work the trisectrix later became known as the quadratrix of Dinostratus as well. Although Dinostratus solved the problem of squaring the circle, he did not do so using Compass and straightedge constructions, ruler and compass alone, and so it was clear to the Greeks that his solution violated the foundational principles of their mathematics. Over 2,200 years later Ferdinand von Lindemann would prove that it is impossible to square a circle using straight edge and compass alone. C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Latus Rectum
A conic section, conic or a quadratic curve is a curve obtained from a Conical surface, cone's surface intersecting a plane (mathematics), plane. The three types of conic section are the hyperbola, the parabola, and the ellipse; the circle is a special case of the ellipse, though it was sometimes considered a fourth type. The Greek mathematics, ancient Greek mathematicians studied conic sections, culminating around 200 BC with Apollonius of Perga's systematic work on their properties. The conic sections in the Euclidean plane have various distinguishing properties, many of which can be used as alternative definitions. One such property defines a non-circular conic to be the set (mathematics), set of those points whose distances to some particular point, called a ''Focus (geometry), focus'', and some particular line, called a ''directrix'', are in a fixed ratio, called the ''Eccentricity (mathematics), eccentricity''. The type of conic is determined by the value of the ec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Delian Problem
Doubling the cube, also known as the Delian problem, is an ancient geometric problem. Given the edge of a cube, the problem requires the construction of the edge of a second cube whose volume is double that of the first. As with the related problems of squaring the circle and trisecting the angle, doubling the cube is now known to be impossible to construct by using only a compass and straightedge, but even in ancient times solutions were known that employed other methods. According to Eutocius, Archytas was the first to solve the problem of doubling the cube (the so-called Delian problem) with an ingenious geometric construction. The nonexistence of a compass-and-straightedge solution was finally proven by Pierre Wantzel in 1837. In algebraic terms, doubling a unit cube requires the construction of a line segment of length , where ; in other words, , the cube root of two. This is because a cube of side length 1 has a volume of , and a cube of twice that volume (a volume of 2) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conic Sections
A conic section, conic or a quadratic curve is a curve obtained from a Conical surface, cone's surface intersecting a plane (mathematics), plane. The three types of conic section are the hyperbola, the parabola, and the ellipse; the circle is a special case of the ellipse, though it was sometimes considered a fourth type. The Greek mathematics, ancient Greek mathematicians studied conic sections, culminating around 200 BC with Apollonius of Perga's systematic work on their properties. The conic sections in the Euclidean plane have various distinguishing properties, many of which can be used as alternative definitions. One such property defines a non-circular conic to be the set (mathematics), set of those points whose distances to some particular point, called a ''Focus (geometry), focus'', and some particular line, called a ''directrix'', are in a fixed ratio, called the ''Eccentricity (mathematics), eccentricity''. The type of conic is determined by the value of the ec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hyperbola
In mathematics, a hyperbola is a type of smooth function, smooth plane curve, curve lying in a plane, defined by its geometric properties or by equations for which it is the solution set. A hyperbola has two pieces, called connected component (topology), connected components or branches, that are mirror images of each other and resemble two infinite bow (weapon), bows. The hyperbola is one of the three kinds of conic section, formed by the intersection of a plane (mathematics), plane and a double cone (geometry), cone. (The other conic sections are the parabola and the ellipse. A circle is a special case of an ellipse.) If the plane intersects both halves of the double cone but does not pass through the apex of the cones, then the conic is a hyperbola. Besides being a conic section, a hyperbola can arise as the locus (mathematics), locus of points whose difference of distances to two fixed focus (geometry), foci is constant, as a curve for each point of which the rays to two fix ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conic Section
A conic section, conic or a quadratic curve is a curve obtained from a cone's surface intersecting a plane. The three types of conic section are the hyperbola, the parabola, and the ellipse; the circle is a special case of the ellipse, though it was sometimes considered a fourth type. The ancient Greek mathematicians studied conic sections, culminating around 200 BC with Apollonius of Perga's systematic work on their properties. The conic sections in the Euclidean plane have various distinguishing properties, many of which can be used as alternative definitions. One such property defines a non-circular conic to be the set of those points whose distances to some particular point, called a '' focus'', and some particular line, called a ''directrix'', are in a fixed ratio, called the ''eccentricity''. The type of conic is determined by the value of the eccentricity. In analytic geometry, a conic may be defined as a plane algebraic curve of degree 2; that is, as the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Proclus
Proclus Lycius (; 8 February 412 – 17 April 485), called Proclus the Successor (, ''Próklos ho Diádokhos''), was a Greek Neoplatonist philosopher, one of the last major classical philosophers of late antiquity. He set forth one of the most elaborate and fully developed systems of Neoplatonism and, through later interpreters and translators, exerted an influence on Byzantine philosophy, early Islamic philosophy, scholastic philosophy, and German idealism, especially G. W. F. Hegel, who called Proclus's ''Platonic Theology'' "the true turning point or transition from ancient to modern times, from ancient philosophy to Christianity." Biography The primary source for the life of Proclus is the eulogy ''Proclus'', ''or On Happiness'' that was written for him upon his death by his successor, Marinus, Marinus' biography set out to prove that Proclus reached the peak of virtue and attained eudaimonia. There are also a few details about the time in which he lived in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alopeconnesus
Alopeconnesus or Alopekonnesos (, "fox island") was an ancient Greek city located on the western coast of ancient Thrace, located in the region of the Thracian Chersonesus. It was an Aeolian colony, and was believed to have derived its name from the fact that the settlers were directed by an oracle to establish the colony, where they should first meet a fox with its cub. In the time of the Macedonian ascendancy, it was allied with, and under the protection of Athens. Coinage of Alopeconnesus have survived. The Platonic philosopher, Menaechmus () was from Alopeconnesus or Prokonnesos. Its site has been located on Anafarta Liman. See also *Greek colonies in Thrace Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ... References Populated places in ancient Thrace Former pop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parabola
In mathematics, a parabola is a plane curve which is Reflection symmetry, mirror-symmetrical and is approximately U-shaped. It fits several superficially different Mathematics, mathematical descriptions, which can all be proved to define exactly the same curves. One description of a parabola involves a Point (geometry), point (the Focus (geometry), focus) and a Line (geometry), line (the Directrix (conic section), directrix). The focus does not lie on the directrix. The parabola is the locus (mathematics), locus of points in that plane that are equidistant from the directrix and the focus. Another description of a parabola is as a conic section, created from the intersection of a right circular conical surface and a plane (geometry), plane Parallel (geometry), parallel to another plane that is tangential to the conical surface. The graph of a function, graph of a quadratic function y=ax^2+bx+ c (with a\neq 0 ) is a parabola with its axis parallel to the -axis. Conversely, every ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eudoxus Of Cnidus
Eudoxus of Cnidus (; , ''Eúdoxos ho Knídios''; ) was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek Ancient Greek astronomy, astronomer, Greek mathematics, mathematician, doctor, and lawmaker. He was a student of Archytas and Plato. All of his original works are lost, though some fragments are preserved in Hipparchus' ''Commentaries on the Phenomena of Aratus and Eudoxus''. ''Theodosius' Spherics, Spherics'' by Theodosius of Bithynia may be based on a work by Eudoxus. Life Eudoxus, son of Aeschines, was born and died in Cnidus (also transliterated Knidos), a city on the southwest coast of Anatolia. The years of Eudoxus' birth and death are not fully known but Diogenes Laertius, Diogenes Laërtius gave several biographical details, mentioned that Apollodorus of Athens, Apollodorus said he reached his wikt:acme#English, acme in the 103rd Olympiad (368–), and claimed he died in his 53rd year. From this 19th century mathematical historians reconstructed dates of 408–, but 20th century schola ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
