start with the greeks

>>9880420
Because math is gay and for nerds Xddddd

No but seriously I agree.

>>9880420

Hello OP. I'm a math major with a big interest in the history of math, so this is right up my street.

If you get an edition of Heath's (Euclid's) Elements, then the historical scholarship will namedrop most of the figures. This is cheaply available either via Dover or even in a B&N omnibus which is literally the same thing and in a single volume, so no one has any business sticking their nose up at it, IMO (unless it's missing content from the Dover print-I haven't checked that closely). At any rate, Heath is the English language standard for Euclid.

Then, there's "the rest". Since we only have fragments, you can get the ideas which have survived into modernity through a presocratics reader (Waterfield seems to serve).

The other actual content I'm vaguely aware of are Apollonius' conics and Pappus' material, whatever it is. A local university library has Springer editions of Apollonius' conics IIRC.

In general, the arguments are pretty easy to understand, you just have to be willing to put in the work. I recently read a Euclid prop from Heath where the language confused me, but then I was able to re-phrase the idea into different, modern terms so that the prop made sense (though I'm still queasy about the ancient understanding of same, which seems more clunky). A footnote compared this particular babby-tier algebraic idea with a line in Aristotle, which I had handy, and it was gratifying to be able to draw connections among the various authors and texts, even if in only a glancing way.

Other than something like spcompass and straightedge constructions, is there any Greek math not covered by high school geometry?

>>9880420
Ptolemy's Almagest

>>9880535

Even Plato (by way of Socrates) reports a simple geometric demonstration in the Meno, which entails doubling a square. A slave ignorant of geometry is walked through the proof step-by-step, with the conclusion being (I invite others to qualify this brief assertion) that the slave already knew these things all along and just had to be walked through the steps, to "rediscover what he already knew", as it were.

If we accept the old saw that the Academy's gate bore the slogan, "let no man ignorant of geometry enter here" or a phrase to that effect, then this is a clear irony. For the purpose of Socrates' demonstration in the Meno, of which Plato as its author was clearly aware, is that men really do know geometry, and just have to be reminded that they know, via a particular reasoning process.

Women, of course, may be ignorant of geometry.

>>9880568
kek

>>9880550

Compass and straightedge constructions are covered by a high school geometry education. If you don't think so, then you either weren't paying attention that week or you went to a very shitty high school.

>>9880551

Please say a bit about this work. I'm not asking duckduckgo, I'm asking you.

>>9880535
Ah, I know another reddit user when I see one :). What a wonderful post, but afaik 4chan users don't seem to appreciate quality posts. Have you tried posting on another site that will appreciate such quality works? Maybe /r/mathematics?

>>9880889

I have been here since 2004 and I'm much older than you. You do not undermine me.

File: 866px-Prinicipia-title.png (2MB, 866x1200px) Image search: [Google]

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There's also Principia for maths verging on /lit/.

>>9880578
It's an astronomic treatise, a mathematical account of the heavens. In the Book I chapter 1 he recounts Aristotle's division of the 'theoretical philosophies' into three: the theological, mathematical, and physical. Ptolemy believes that in the mathematical we can come closest to real knowledge, and that the mathematical can provide a foundation for studying the physical and theological.

From there he presents his model of the heavens, a "celestial sphere" with Earth as its center. He presumes familiarity with Euclid, so you should definitely work through the Elements first.

File: askmeanything.jpg (58KB, 612x614px) Image search: [Google]

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>tfw read Euclid's Elements

Why even live

>>9880420
Euclid never existed, he's fictional.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but you can find greek mathematicians studying the Pre-Socratics (and it is mentioned here). But I don't know for other work exclusively about greek maths.
Also, is it possible to understand math better studying Apollonius, Archimedes, Euclids?

>>9880535
thanks, good info

>>9881157
>>9880551
that sounds exactly what I am looking for, thanks, noted it

>>9881121
i've read people saying that russel's principia is something close to unreadable, that at most one should read excerpts but not a book to read cover2cover. is newton's principia good or is it in situation similar to bertrand's?