Textbook Revolution

Taking the Bite Out of Books

Euclid's Elements

D.E. Joyce

http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/java/elements/toc.html

One of the classics, written over two millenia ago in Greek, and now available in dynamic HTML. The geometric ideas are presented with a very cool looking java applet that allows you to manipulate the images – rotate, change perspective, zoom in and out.

From the website:

Euclid’s Elements form one of the most beautiful and influential works of science in the history of humankind. Its beauty lies in its logical development of geometry and other branches of mathematics. It has influenced all branches of science but none so much as mathematics and the exact sciences. The Elements have been studied 24 centuries in many languages starting, of course, in the original Greek, then in Arabic, Latin, and many modern languages.

I’m creating this version of Euclid’s Elements for a couple of reasons. The main one is to rekindle an interest in the Elements, and the web is a great way to do that. Another reason is to show how Java applets can be used to illustrate geometry. That also helps to bring the Elements alive.

Standard copyright, but you are free to browse the html pages and use the applet, so long as you have a browser that supports Java.

Link to website

Available for purchase? No