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Comparing angles in Euclid's Elements

2024/04/02 by Shen, Alexander
#01A20 #FOS: Mathematics #History and Overview (math.HO)

paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2404.02272

Abstract

The exposition in Euclid's Elements contains an obvious gap (seemingly unnoticed by most commentators): he often compares not just angles, but *groups* of angles, and at the same time he avoids summing angles (and considering angles greater than π), and does not say what such a comparison of groups could mean. We discuss the problem and suggest a possible interpretation that could make Euclid's exposition consistent.

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