"It would, of course, be a easier task for me to transfer Euclid's fifth book into these pages. I could find little to remark upon in it, as the ancient Geometer has displayed so much sagacity and penetration in this, the most elaborate of all his writings, that he has left to moderns little or no room for improvement: it must be studied just as it is (in Simson's restoration), or else be superseded in instruction by a treatise of equal generality, but greater simplicity. You will understand, therefore, that I do not displace fifth Euclid's book because of its imperfections, or because of its inadequacy to completely its objects; but solely because of its great difficulty to a beginner."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
John Radford Young, "Proportion. A Treatise..." in The mathematical sciences (1860)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Doctrine_of_proportion_(mathematics)
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Doctrine of proportion (mathematics)
18 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Doctrine of proportion (mathematics) →
Related Quotes
"Such questions, thus too often rejected by the mathematician as metaphysical, are on the other hand discarded by the …"
"The doctrine of Proportion, in the Fifth Book of Euclid's Elements, is obscure, and unintelligible to most readers. I…"
"Those persons who desire to see the doctrine of Proportion treated according to a general method which is plainer tha…"
"On an attentive examination of the methods adopted by modern elementary writers, in laying down the first principles …"
"The doctrine of ratios and proportion is introduced by Euclid as a part of his system of geometry; and the student se…"
"Various relations being established in geometry between lines constituted under given conditions, as parts of geometr…"
"Much of the confusion of ideas which has arisen on these subjects has been occasioned by not observing that when we s…"
"The author's object in this tract is to defend Euclid from the charges of inconsistency which have been brought again…"
"The object of the edition now offered to the public, is not so much to give to the writings of Euclid the form which …"
"All who intend to study these pages would do well to read attentively the following directions and observations; for …"