Opening The Elements — Euclid in Plato Scroll…
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Euclid · Thomas L. Heath
The Elements (Στοιχεῖα) of Euclid of Alexandria (fl. c. 300 BC) — the most influential textbook ever written, and the foundation of deductive geometry. Across thirteen books it builds, from a handful of definitions, postulates, and common notions, the whole edifice of plane and solid geometry, proportion, and number theory. English translation by Sir Thomas L. Heath (1908), with the classical figures. Use the A / B switch to read the original Greek of Heiberg alongside. 1. A POINT IS that which has no part. 2. A line is breadthless length. 3. The extremities of a line are points. 4. A straight line is a line which lies evenly with the points on itself. 5. A surface is that which has length and breadth only. 6. The extremities of a surface are lines. 7. A plane surface is a surface which lies evenly with the straight lines on itself. 8. A plane angle is the inclination to one another of …
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