"All the specimens of Egyptian geometry which we possess deal only with particular numerical problems and not with general theorems; and even if a result be stated as universally true, it was probably proved to be so only by a wide induction. ...Greek geometry was from its commencement deductive. There are reasons for thinking that Egyptian geometry and arithmetic made little or no progress subsequent to the date of Ahmes's work; and though for nearly two hundred years after the time of Thales Egypt was recognised by the Greeks as an important school of mathematics, it would seem that, almost from the foundation of the Ionian school, the Greeks outstripped their former teachers."
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A Short Account of the History of Mathematics
A Short Account of the History of Mathematics was written 1888 by W. W. Rouse Ball. Later editions followed in 1893, 1901 and 1905. Ball divides this book into three periods, which he describes as follows. The First Period, Mathematics under Greek Influence (Ch. II-VII) begins with the teaching of Thales, circ. 600 B.C., and ends with the capture of Alexandria by the Mohammedans in or about 641 A.D. The characteristic feature of this period is the development of Geometry. The Second Period, Math
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