устротная 4,4,4, I EUCLID'S 34135 Euclides ELEMENTS OF GEOMETRY, TRANSLATED FROM THE LATIN OF THE RIGHT REV. THOMAS ELRINGTON, D.D. LATE LORD BISHOP OF LEIGHLIN AND FERNS, FORMERLY TO WHICH IS ADDED A COMPENDIUM OF ALGEBRA, ALSO A COMPENDIUM Designed for the Use of Schools and Private NEW EDITION, WITH AN APPENDIX. LONDON: BELL AND DALDY, 186, FLEET-STREET. DUBLIN: GEORGE HERBERT, 1872. PREFACE. In again presenting this Translation to the Public, it will be only requisite to repeat, that the principal cause of its first appearance was owing to the want of such a publication, in order to combine the study of Euclid with Algebra; and the text of this great Prelate being the best adapted for such, induced the Editor to adopt it. We now beg especially to thank the Rev. Doctor Wall, and the Rev. D. Flynn, of DUBLIN, for the high testimony they have borne to the value of this little volume; and, at the same time, to thank the public at large for its rapid passage through several editions. It would doubtless be of much advantage, even in Classical learning, to commence Mathematical studies at an early age; as the mode of reasoning, and the application of the mental faculties required in learning Euclid and Algebra, expand the mind and give a freedom to thought, which clears the intellect for every other branch of learning. Geometry has been now taught for more than 2000 years, and considered, at all times, the foundation of Science, but its source is uncertain. The history of the rise of Geometry, supported by Diodorus, Strabo, and others, informs us that the Egyptians invented Surveying, for the purpose of preserving in memory the boundaries of their property, yearly destroyed by the overflowing of the Nile. The Jews appear to have been void of any knowledge of Geometry. Some writers tell us, that Pythagoras visited India; this, together with other reasons, induce many to form an opinion, that Geometry came from that country. Pythagoras, who was born about 568 years before the Christian era, was one of the earliest that formed Schools of Geometry; he also discovered the 47th Proposition of the First Book, and is said to have sacrificed 100 head of 32435 |