Timeline for Straightedge and compass
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
3 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Apr 4, 2018 at 7:21 | comment | added | Viktor Blasjo | @provocateur Vitruvius and Plutarch specifically associate compasses with geometry, not just mention it as a practical tool. Aristophanes’s character is inscribing a square within a circle, which is exactly the kind of thing Euclid is doing. | |
| Apr 4, 2018 at 0:03 | comment | added | provocateur | Thanks. The Vitriuvius comment, when looked at in full, also endorses the use of 'the square, the level, and the plummet' in the same sentence, and so seems to leave my question open. The Aristophanes and Plutarch passages just point out the circles can be drawn with compasses, which just seems like a triviality. The Pappus quote is perhaps the most compelling here, and I would like to think about it further. | |
| Apr 3, 2018 at 23:52 | history | answered | Viktor Blasjo | CC BY-SA 3.0 |