"Of Anaxagoras, a pupil of Anaximenes, and the last philosopher of the Ionic school, we know little, except that while in prison, he passed his time attempting to square the circle. This is the first time, in the history of mathematics, that we find mention of the famous problem of the quadrature of the circle, that rock upon which so many reputations have been destroyed. It turns upon the determination of the exact value of π. Approximations to π had been made by the Chinese, Babylonians, Hebrews, and Egyptians. But the invention of a method to find its exact value, is the knotty problem which has engaged the attention of many minds from the time of Anaxagoras down to our own. Anaxagoras did not offer any solution of it, and seems to have luckily escaped paralogisms."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
p. 18.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_History_of_Mathematics
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
A History of Mathematics
A History of Mathematics by Florian Cajori was the first popular history of mathematics written in the United States. It was published in 1893.
172 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by A History of Mathematics →
Related Quotes
"The contemplation of the various steps by which mankind has come into possession of the vast stock of mathematical kn…"
"The chemist smiles at the childish efforts of alchemists but the mathematician finds the geometry of the Greeks and t…"
"[Mathematics] warns us against hasty conclusions; it points out the importance of a good notation upon the progress o…"
"An untold amount of intellectual energy has been expended on the quadrature of the circle, yet no conquest has been m…"
"Another reason for the desirability of historical study is the value of historical knowledge to the teacher of mathem…"
"The interest which pupils take in their studies may be greatly increased if the solution of problems and the cold log…"
"A class in arithmetic will be pleased to hear about the Hindoos and their invention of the "Arabic notation;" they wi…"
"After the pupils have learned how to bisect a given angle, surprise them by telling of the many futile attempts which…"
"When they [students] know how to construct a square whose area is double the area of a given square, tell them about …"
"After the class have exhausted their energies on the theorem of the right triangle, tell them something about its dis…"