TheHi

stor
yofGeomet
ry

Geomet r
y,oneoft heoldestbranchesofmat hemat
ics,dealswit
htheproper
ti
esandrelat
ionsof
point
s,li
nes,sur
faces,andsolids.Itsdevel
opmentrefl
ectstheevol
uti
onofmat hemat
ical
thoughtanditspracti
calappli
cationsthr
oughouthumanhi stor
y.

Anci
entandCl
assi
cal
Geomet
ry

Ear
lyBegi
nni
ngs:

Theori
ginsofgeometr
ycanbet racedbacktoanci
entci
vi
li
zat
ions,wherei
twaspri
mari
ly
devel
opedoutofpract
ical
necessity
,suchaslandmeasur
ement,constr
uct
ion,
andast
ronomy
.

TheEgypti
ans,f
orexample,
usedgeomet r
yinbuil
dingpyramidsandi
nlandsur
veyi
ng,
especi
all
yaft
erannualNi
l
ef l
oods.Theyhadpract
icalr
ulesforcal
cul
ati
ngar
easandvolumes,
thoughnotafor
mal t
heor
eti
calsystem.

Mesopot
ami
a:

TheBabyloniansal
sousedgeomet ryf
orast
ronomical
observat
ionsandconst
ruct
ion.They
devel
opedear l
ymethodsforapproxi
mati
ngareasandsol
vinggeometri
cprobl
ems, i
ncludi
ng
thoser
elatedtocir
clesandtr
iangl
es.

Anci
entGr
eece:

Greekci
vil
i
zati
onmarkedamaj oradvancementi
ngeomet ry
,transi
ti
oni
ngf
rom empir
ical
rules
t
oal ogi
cal,
axi
omat
icapproach.Thiseralai
dthefoundat
ionformuchofWesterngeometry
.

Thal
esofMil
etus(c.624–c.546BCE)i
softenconsi
deredthef
ir
stt
oappl
ydeduct
iver
easoni
ng
togeomet
ry,
provi
ngt heor
emsandexplor
inggeometri
cproper
ti
es.

Pyt
hagoras(
c.570–c.495BCE)andhisfol
lower
s(t
hePythagoreans)inv
est
igat
edpr
oper
ti
esof
numbersandgeometri
cfi
gur
es,i
ncludi
ngthefamousPy
thagoreant heor
em.

Eucli
d(c.300BCE)sy stemati
zedgeometri
cknowledgei
nhiswor k"
Element
s,"acoll
ect
ionof
13bookst hatcoveredplaneandsol
idgeometry
,numbertheor
y,andmore.Eucl
id'
smethod,
basedondef i
nit
ions,axi
oms, andl
ogi
caldeduct
ions,
becamethestandar
dformathemat i
cal
proofs.

Ar
chi
medes(
c.287–c.212BCE)cont
ri
but
edsi
gni
fi
cant
lyt
otheunder
standi
ngofar
eas,
vol
umes,andt
heproper
ti
esofconi
csect
ions.Heal
sodev
elopedmet
hodsf
orcal
cul
ati
ngpi
andexpl
ori
ngi
nfi
nit
esi
mals,
precur
sor
stocalcul
us.

Apoll
oni
usofPerga(c.262–c.190BCE)f
ocusedonconi
csect
ions,
syst
emat
ical
l
yst
udy
ing
el
li
pses,
parabol
as,andhyperbol
as.

I
slami
candMedi
eval
Cont
ri
but
ions

I
slami
cGol
denAge:

Duri
ngt heIsl
amicGoldenAge,
schol
arspr
eser
vedandexpandedGreekmathemati
cal
knowledge.Theytr
anslat
edandcommentedonEucl
id'
s"El
ements"andot
herworks.

Mathematici
ansli
keAl
-Khwari
zmi (
c.780–c.850)madecontri
buti
onstoal
gebra,whi
choften
i
nvolvedgeometri
cmethods.OmarKhay y
am (1048–1131)workedont
hesoluti
onofcubic
equat
ionsusinggeometr
icmethods,f
oreshadowingl
aterdev
elopment
sinalgebr
aicgeometr
y.

Alhazen(I
bnal
-Hay
tham,c.965–1040)madesi gnif
icantcont
ribut
ionstoopt
icsandgeometr
y,
parti
cul
arl
yint
hestudyofl
ightandref
lect
ion,
whi chhadimplicati
onsforper
specti
vei
nart
.

Medi
eval
Eur
ope:

I
nmedi eval
Europe,t
het r
ansmi ssi
onofArabi
candGreekt
extsthr
oughSpainandItal
yledt
oa
r
enewedi nt
eresti
ngeomet ry.Schol
arsl
i
keLeonardoFi
bonacci
(c.1170–c.1250)hel
ped
r
eint
roduceclassi
calknowledge.

TheRenai
ssanceandEar
lyModer
nPer
iod

Renai
ssance:

TheRenaissancebroughtar eviv
alofclassical
knowledgeandinnovat
ionsinperspecti
ve,which
werecruci
alforartandarchitect
ure.Fi
l
ippoBr unel
l
eschi(1377–1446)andLeonBat ti
staAlbert
i
(1404–1472)wereamongt hosewhoappl iedgeometri
cpr i
nci
plest
oar t
,leadi
ngtothef or
mal
studyofproj
ecti
vegeomet ry.

LucaPaci
oli(
1447–1517)andLeonar
dodaVinci(1452–1519)st
udi
edpr
opor
ti
onand
symmetry
,inf
luenci
ngbothar
tandmat hemat
ics.

17t
hCent
ury
:
Thedevelopmentofanal
yti
cgeomet r
ybyRenéDescart
es(1596–1650)andPierr
edeFermat
(1601–1665)markedamajorshi
ft.Theyi
ntr
oducedtheuseofcoordinat
estodescr
ibe
geometri
cfigur
esandlai
dthefoundati
onforcal
cul
usandmoder nalgebrai
cgeometry
.

Bl
aisePascal(
1623–1662)andGir
ardDesar
gues(1591–1661)contr
ibutedtothedev
elopment
ofproj
ect
ivegeometr
y,expl
ori
ngproper
ti
esoff
iguresi
nvari
antunderproject
ion.

The18t
hand19t
hCent
uri
es

Expansi
onandFor
mal
i
zat
ion:

The18t
hcenturysawtheexpansi
onofgeometryi
ntonewareas,suchasdif
fer
ent
ialgeometr
y,
wit
hcontr
ibut
ionsfr
om Leonhar
dEul
er(1707–1783)andJoseph-
LouisLagr
ange(1736–1813).

The19thcenturywasaperi
odofsigni
fi
canttr
ansfor
mationingeomet
ry.Car
lFri
edr
ichGauss
(1777–1855)devel
opedt
hetheor
yofsurfaces,l
ayi
ngthegroundwor
kfordif
fer
enti
algeomet
ry.

Nikol
aiLobachev
sky(1792–1856)andJánosBol
yai(1802–1860)independent
lydev
elopednon-
Eucli
deangeometry
,chal
lengi
ngtheparal
l
elpost
ulat
eofEuclideangeomet r
yandexpandingt
he
scopeofgeometri
cstudi
es.

Moder
nGeomet
ry:

Bernhar
dRiemann(1826–1866)gener
ali
zedt
henoti
onofspace,
leadi
ngt
oRi
emanni
an
geometry,
whichbecamefundamentalt
othet
heor
yofrel
ati
vit
y.

Feli
xKlei
n( 1849–1925)proposedtheEr l
angenProgram, whi
chclassi
fi
edgeometr
iesbasedon
thei
runderl
y i
ngsymmet ri
es.Thisapproachunif
ieddiff
erentt
ypesofgeometry
,suchas
Eucli
dean,proj
ecti
ve,andnon-Eucli
deangeomet ri
es.

Thedev el
opmentoft
opology,
of t
endescri
bedas"r
ubber
-sheetgeometr
y,"expl
oredproper
ti
es
preser
vedundercont
inuousdeformat
ions,addi
nganewdimensiontogeomet r
icstudy.

20t
hCent
uryandBey
ond

Cont
empor
aryGeomet
ry:

The20t
hcentur
ysawf urt
heradvancementsi
nv ar
iousbranchesofgeomet
ry,
incl
udi
ng
al
gebr
aicgeometr
y,di
ffer
enti
algeometr
y,andtopology
.

Theri
seofcomputert
echnol
ogyenabl
ednewappli
cat
ionsandvisual
izat
ions,
leadi
ngt
o
devel
opment
sincomputati
onal
geometryandcomput
er-ai
deddesign(CAD).

Geomet
rycont
inuest
opl
ayacr
uci
alr
olei
ntheor
eti
cal
phy
sics,
par
ti
cul
arl
yint
hest
udyof
spacet
imeandst
ri
ngt
heor
y.

Geomet ryhasevolvedfrom practi

calmeasurementsandbasi cshapestoar i
chandcompl ex
fi
eldencompassi ngvariousabstractandappli
edbranches.It
sdevelopmentrefl
ectshumani t
y'
s
questtounderstandspace, shape,andthefundamentalnatureoftheuni
verse.Today,geometry
i
sintegraltomanysci enti
fi
candengi neer
ingdisci
pli
nes,demonstrat
ingi
tsenduringimportance
andadapt abi
l
ity
.