Euclid wrote the Elements in 300 BC. The original manuscript was lost.

All the
surviving content of Euclids Element came from the versions edited by later
Greek geometer. As Europe fell into the dark ages, the development of
geometry came to a halt. However, many works of the classical period,
including Euclids Elements, were translated into Arabic and preserved in the
Arabic world during this time. In 1130 AD, the English monk Adelard of Bath
translated the Elements from Arabic into Latin and finally brought it back to the
Western Europe again.
In the fourteenth century, printing press was invented and Euclids
Elements was the earliest mathematical works to be printed in large scale. It
was the standard textbook of geometry in all schools for centuries.
The Chinese Translation
The First Chinese translation of Euclids Elements appeared in 1607 (Ming
Dynasty).
Matteo Ricci, an Italian Jesuit priest who was a pioneer of cultural
relations between China and the West, worked with Xu Guangqi, a Chinese
scientist and mathematician, to translated the first 6 volumes of the Elements
into Chinese. The Chinese term for geometry originated from it.
Alexander Wylie and Li Shanlan completed the translation of the rest of
the Elements in 1857 (Qing Dynasty).
The Content of Euclids Elements
Euclids Elements is a collection of 13 books about geometry and theory of
numbers.
Book I IV, VI and X are about plane geometry
Book XI XIII are about 3-dimensional geometry
Book V is about ratios and proportions
Book VII IX are about number theory
The theory of plane geometry described in Euclids Elements is also called
the Euclidean geometry.
Definitions, Postulates, Common Notions and Proportions
There are four types of statements in Euclids Elements:
Definitions-Descriptions of most basic objects and terms in geometry
(e.g. point, line)
Postulates-Truths that are deemed self-evident (e.g. any two points can
be joined by a unique straight line)
Common notions-General truths (e.g. the whole is greater than the
part)
Propositions-Results in geometry that can be logically deduced from
definitions, postulates and common notions.
In Euclids Elements, geometry was described as an axiomatic system

Axiomatic System
In general, an axiomatic system needs to satisfy the following requirements:
Understanding of the meaning of the words and symbols used (e.g.
Definitions)
Acceptance of certain statements called axioms without further
justification (e.g. Postulates and common notions)
Agreement on a rule of deduction (Here is an example of logic
deduction e.g. (a) Sum of angles of any triangle is 180 degrees (b)
ABC is a triangle (c) conclusion-Sum of angles of ABC is 180 degrees)
Propositions in an axiomatic system are statements that can be deduced
from the axioms.
We illustrate the concept of axiomatic system by considering a very simple
kind of geometry-three-point geometry.
The axioms for three-point geometry
1. There exist three distinct points
2. Each two distinct points are on exactly one line
3. Not all points are on the same line
4. Each two distinct lines are on at least one point
Deductions
Therefore, we have the following two propositions in the three-point
geometry:
Proposition 1: two distinct lines are on exactly one point
Proposition 2: There are exactly three lines
The proof of Proposition 1 from axioms is as follows:
1. By Axiom 4, any two distinct lines are on at least one point.
Assume there exist two distinct lines L1 and L2 such that they are on
more than one point. Let A and B be two distinct points on them.
2. By Axiom 2, A and B are exactly on one line. However, they are on L1
and L2 by above. It is a contradiction. Therefore, our assumption is
false and any two distinct lines are on exactly one point.
The proof of Proposition 2 from axioms is as follows:
1. By Axiom 1, there are exactly three points. Lets call them A, B and C.
2. By Axiom 2, any two points are on exactly one line. Therefore, all the
possible lines are Ab, Bc and Ac. We need to show that they are
distinct.
3. Assume that a pair of lines s the same. Then A, B and C are one of the
same lines, which violate Axiom 3. Therefore, those three lines are
distinct.
Book I The Fundamentals of Geometry

The Book I of Euclids Elements begins with 23 definitions, 5 postulates, and 5

common notions. Then they are followed by 48 propositions.
Definitions state the meanings of terms used in the books
Postulates and common notions are the axioms
All propositions can be deduced from the axioms
Lines, Points and Angles
Line-a breadthless length
o Straight line is vaguely defined in Euclids Elements. Its meaning
wil be apparent in Postulate 1
o Parallel lines-Two straight lines do not meet one another when
they are produced indefinitely in both directions
Point-a location that has no breadth or length
o Ends of a line are points
Angle-an inclination of one straight line to another such that they meet
one another and do not lie on a straight line
o Right angle-if a straight line stands on another one and makes
equal adjacent angles, then they are right angles and the two
lines are said to be perpendicular
o Acute angle-An angle less than a right angle
o Obtuse angle-An angle greater than a right angle
Circles and Triangles
Circle-a plane figure whose points have equal distance from a fixed
point
o The fixed point is called the center
o The straight line drawn from a point on the circle through the
center to another point on the circle is called the diameter
o The straight line from a point on the circle to the center is called
the radius
o The diameter cuts the circle into two semicircles
Triangle-a plane figure whose sides consists of three straight lines
o Equilateral triangle-The length of three sides are equal
o Isosceles triangle-the length of two sides are equal
o Scalene triangle-the length of three sides are unequal
o Right-angled triangle-it has a right angle
o Obtuse-angled triangle-it has an obtuse angle
o Acute-angled triangle-its three angles are acute
Quadrilaterals and Polygons
Quadrilateral-A plane figure whose sides consist of four straight lines
o Square-All angles are right and four sides are equal
o Rectangle-All angles are right
o Rhombus-Four sides are equal

o Parallelogram-Two pairs of opposite sides are parallel

o Trapezium-One pair of opposite sides are parallel
Polygon-A plane figure whose sides consist of a finite number of
straight lines
o Regular polygon-All angles are equal and all sides are also
equal

The first 4 Postulates

The following are the first 4 postulates in Euclids Elements:
Postulate 1-To draw a straight line from any point to any point
Postulate 2-To produce a finite straight line continuously in a straight
line
Postulate 3-To describe a circle with any center and radius
Postulate 4-That all right angles equal one another
Postulate 1 says we can draw a straight line through any two points and
Postulate 2 says that we can extend any straight line. These can be done by
using a simple tool called a straightedge.
Postulate 3 says that we can draw a circle with any given center and
radius. This can be done by using another simple tool called a compass.
The process of drawing plane geometric figures using simple tools
such as straightedge and compass is called a geometric construction.
The fifth Postulate
Postulate 5 states that if a straight line falling on two straight lines makes the
interior angles on the same side less than two right angles, the two straight
lines, if produced indefinitely, meet on that side on which are the angles less
than the two right angles.
This postulate is also called the parallel postulate.
Common Notions
Common notions are axioms about magnitudes like lengths, angles and
areas. There are 5 of them:
Common notion 1-Thing which equal the same thing also equal one
another
Common notion 2-If equals are added to equals, then the wholes are
equal
Common notion 3-If equals are subtracted from equals, then the
remainders are equal
Common notion 4-Things which coincide with one another equal one
another
Common notion 5-The whole is greater than the part
An algebraic interpretation:
Common notion 1-If x=z and y=z, then x=y

 Common notion 2-If x=y and z=w, then x+z=y+w

Common notion 3-If x=y and z=w, then x-z=y-w
Common notion 5-If x=y+z, then x>y
Common notion 4 can be interpretation as the principle of superposition.
That is to say, if a plane geometric figure can be moved to coincide another
plane figure, these two figures are equal.
Proposition 4
Given two triangles such that their two corresponding sides are equal.
Moreover, if the angles between these two corresponding sides are equal,
then two triangles are equal, or in modern terms, they are congruent
triangles.
Note: this condition for congruence of triangles is usually called
S.A.S.
The idea of Euclids proof is to move one triangle so that it overlaps
with another triangle. Then Euclid claims that two triangles coincide and by
Common notion 4, they are equal.
Proposition 7 and 8
The purpose of Proposition 7 and 8 is to obtain another important condition for
the congruence of two triangles.
Proposition 7- Let AB be a finite straight line. Suppose C is a point not on the
AB. Join A and B to C. There does not exist another point D on the same side
as C such that AC=AD and BC=BD.
This is an interesting proposition because it tells us something we
CANNOT have.
Again, Euclid proved it by contradiction. Assume there exist point D
such that AC=AD and BC=BD.
Proposition 8-Given two triangles. If their three corresponding sides are equal,
then two triangles are congruent.
Note: This condition for congruence of triangles is usually called
S.S.S.
Again, Euclid proved it by contradiction. This proposition is the directly
consequence of Proposition 7.
Suppose triangle ABC and triangle PQR are two triangles such that
AB=PQ, AC=PR and BC=QR. We move triangle PQR such that QR coincides
with AB. We claim that P also coincides with C.
Assume the contrary, point P is moved to point D, which is not point C.
We now obtain the figure. However, Proposition 7 says that this is impossible
i.e. a contradiction. Therefore, P coincides with C and the two triangles are
congruent.
Other Propositions in Book I

When going through the first few propositions in Book I, we see that Euclid
carefully established results in a strictly logical way i.e. using only axioms and
previously proven results. There are 48 propositions in Book I and 467
propositions in all the thirteen volumes written by Euclid, which literally cover
all the knowledge of geometry of his time.
Proposition 9-12, 22, 23, 31 are basic geometric constructions.
Proposition 13-15 are various properties of angles e.g. vertical angles,
adjacent angles etc.
Proposition 16-21, 24-26 and 32 are various properties of triangles,
including the congruence condition A.A.S./A.S.A (prop 26) and angle
sum of triangle (Prop 32).
Proposition 27-33 are various results about parallel lines and angles.
Proposition 34-46 are results about areas of parallelograms and
triangles.
Proposition 47 and 48 are the famous Pythagoras Theorem and its
converse.
Summary
After Euclid wrote the Elements, it was widely used as the standard
textbook in geometry. However, during the middle ages, it was lost to
the Western European. Fortunately, Arabic Scholars translated and
preserved it in Arabic world at this time.
Euclids Elements appeared in Europe again in 1130 AD. Then in
1607, it was translated in Chinese by Matteo Ricci and Xu Guangqi.
Euclid described geometry as an axiomatic system, where postulates
and common notions are axioms.
Despite the brilliance of Euclids system, it is not without its critics.