Reddit reviews Euclid's Elements

The Green Lion Press Edition is the one to buy.

Also, if you want a free edition: Euclid's Elements Online

Both the book and the online edition is based on Heath's translation which is considered to be an excellent translation.

Dover also publishes copies of Euclid's Elements and those too are Heath's translation.

The difference is that the Green Lion Press Edition is just the elements. It has lots of space to make notes in, if a proof extends beyond the page onto the following page then the diagram will appear along with the rest of the proof, and the text is well spaced and easy to read.

The dover editions are much more crammed. Also there is a lot of historical commentary(which is good but not if you just want to learn the geometry). Also dover's editions are spread across 3 separate books. While with the Green Lion edition you get all the Elements in a single textbook.

The Green Lion Press Edition is the way to go.

NOTE: One thing odd about Heath's translation is that in Book I Proposition 36 he seems to misuse Proposition 34. I emailed the publisher and they agreed the use of I.34 seems out of place but it is in fact that's how Heath wrote it. One thing to consider is that Heath had deep understanding of Greek Mathematics and so there may be a good reason why he put I.34 where he did, but as math undergrad I don't see it.

For proposition 36 I recommend going to the free online text. I.36

Professor Joyce, the editor of the site, makes a more logical use of I.34 than Heath did.

But overall the Green Lion Press book is excellent. I used it in conjunction with the website.

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Probably a good idea if you want to start playing the field or find someone special. I have no idea how online porn can effect someone who grew up with it.

> Study Mathematics >4 hours/day

Have you gone through Euclid's Elements yet? It was the standard textbook for 2000 years. Everyone from Newton to Lincoln praised it and kept by them throughout their lives. Give it a shot. It covers everything from geometry to number theory, and all you need is a straight edge and a compass to start from first principles. I recommend this version: Euclid's Elements

They all fit in about 500 or so pages. Here's the copy I own: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1888009195/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have this version. One of the best features is that if a proof goes onto the backside of a page, they put another diagram on that page. That was you don't have to flip back and forth trying to follow the construction. I have only read the first book, but it was good, and the other reviews on amazon seem to say it was good throughout. As far as other good, understandable books with limited prerequisites, there is Axler's Linear Algebra Done Right. If you've already taken a Linear Algebra class this book will most likely give you a new and hopefully more intuitive perspective. Furthermore Linear Algebra might have more applications in your field.

I was in a similar position to you, until I had to read Euclid's Elements for my freshman math course in college. The difference between what I'd been taught in school before that and what I came to understand after reading source texts was huge.

While I somewhat understand why the modern American education system focuses almost exclusively on applied math, I can't help but feel that something significant was lost when we moved away from using texts like the Elements as primary textbooks; it lasted in that role for more than 2,000 years for a reason.

If you're looking to really begin understanding math, I'd start there.

http://www.amazon.com/Euclids-Elements-Euclid/dp/1888009195/

Is an excellent edition of Euclid.

Just finished watching it. Thanks for letting me know.

I enjoyed it, but I'm wondering if there are any others who share my misgivings. On the whole it seems a bit like an elitist morality play, especially with the intermittent text. Incidentally I have a very strong grasp of certain aspects of the film's source material, so I was able to appreciate it as a well-crafted work of historical fiction. However, I fear that someone without my background would mistake some of the very bold liberties taken in the script as fact. There are things which are, to be flattering, horribly anachronistic and speculative. If anyone is interested I can expound more, but as a blanket statement, I will say that we know very little about Hypatia and her discoveries, as well as very little of the actual contents of the library. For those interested in getting their hands dirty, buy and read these books (It will take a lot of time and effort), in the following order. They are all pretty much inaccessible until you've read Euclid's Elements rather thoroughly.

Euclid's Elements, Translated by T.L. Heath (one of my Personal Heros). You might also look into the dover editions of the Elements(in 3 volumes), as they contain Heath's fascinating notes.

Ptolemy's Almagest (or Syntaxis), Talliafero translation. I advise against the Toomer, since he takes liberties in re-organizing the tables, obscuring the methods actually used by Ptolemy (and his slave-scribes) to calculate them. People disparage the "great books" collection with good and bad reasons, but I find the mathematical volumes comfortable to study with. Beware of typographical errors and omissions though, of which there are, sadly, quite a few. Another nice thing about this version is you can immediately read Copernicus and Kepler. If you make it through this volume, you will be able to explain exactly how humanity knows that the world is round, revolves around the sun, and does so in an ellipse, in exactly the way the people who explained them first and/or best did.

Next, for some interesting perspective, here is Heath's magnificent compendium of material on Aristarchos himself. http://www.amazon.com/Aristarchus-Samos-Ancient-Copernicus-Astronomy/dp/0486438864/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1301222044&sr=1-1

If you really want to split your mind-cock in half, try Apollonius' Conics If you can find the "Great Books" version, I think the diagrams are better-drawn, but to each his own.

To really master the mathematics in these books takes about 18 months of dedicated study. But if you are able to get through them, you will stand in awe upon the mount of time, peering back over our collective past like a trillionaire's son on the day of his inheritance. Besides, if you're serious about atheism, you'll probably be conned into spending that much time reading the bible. Which would you rather know by heart?

For more information on Hypatia herself, this is a good start: http://www.polyamory.org/~howard/Hypatia/primary-sources.html

One of my favorite things about the movie was how it constantly zoomed in and out from the surface of the planet, and the cinematography of the final scene was fucking fantastic.

The BEST way to study history of math is to read classic math texts from history such as the Elements, the Conics, the Principia, etc.

Original texts aside, I recommend The World of Mathematics by James Newman.

I also recommend Newton's Principia: The Central Argument by Densmore.