History of the Euclidean Parallel

Postulate
History of the EPP: Proclus Diadochus
• 411 (Constantinople,
Turkey)– 485 (Athens,
Greece)
• Schooled in Alexandria
• Commentary on Euclid’s
Elements – A major
source of what we know
of ancient Greek
geometry
• “Last of the classical
Greek philosophers”
• Taught Platonism
 History of the EPP: Proclus Diadochus
• This [fifth postulate] ought even to be struck out of the Postulates
altogether; for it is a theorem involving many difficulties. . . [T]he
statement that, since they converge more and more as they are produced,
they will sometime meet is plausible but not necessary, in the absence of
some argument showing that this is true in the case of straight lines. For
the fact that some lines exist which approach indefinitely, but yet remain
non‐secant, although it seems improbable and paradoxical, is nevertheless
true and fully ascertained with regard to other species of lines [for
example curves like the hyperbola that has asymptotes]. Indeed, until the
statement in the Postulate is clinched by proof, the facts shown in the case
of other lines may direct our imagination the opposite way. And, though
the controversial arguments against the meeting of the straight lines
should contain much that is surprising, is there not all the more reason
why we should expel from our body of doctrine this merely plausible and
unreasoned (hypothesis)?
• It is then clear from this that we must seek a proof of the present
theorem, and that it is alien to the special character of Postulates.
History of the EPP: Omar Khayyám
• Omar Khayyám (1048‐
1123):
• First Persian
mathematician to call
the unknown shiy
(meaning thing or
something in Arabic)
which was
transliterated into
Spanish as xay and later
shortened to x.
History of the EPP: Omar Khayyám
• Wrote Explanations of the Difficulties in the
Postulates in Euclid's Elements in 1077.
• Not trying to prove Euclid’s V, but to derive it
from an equivalent postulate he formulated
from "the principles of the Philosopher"
(Aristotle): "Two convergent straight lines
intersect and it is impossible for two
convergent straight lines to diverge in the
direction in which they converge."
History of the EPP: Omar Khayyám
• Studied what we now call Saccheri
quadrilaterals (but which should probably be
called Khayyám‐Saccheri quadrilaterals), and
by using his postulate to eliminate the
hypotheses of the obtuse and acute angles,
derived Euclid’s V from his postulate. On the
way, he proved many theorems of what is now
hyperbolic geometry.
 History of the EPP: Nașīr al‐Dīn al‐Țūsī
• 1201 – 1274
• First to treat
trigonometry as a
mathematical discipline
separate from astronomy
• Wrote Al‐risala al‐
shafiya'an al‐shakk fi'l‐
khutut al‐mutawaziya
(Discussion Which
Removes Doubt about
Parallel Lines) (1250)
History of the EPP: Nașīr al‐Dīn al‐Țūsī
• Wrote detailed critiques of the parallel
postulate and of Omar Khayyám's attempted
proof a century earlier. Nașīr al‐Dīn attempted
to derive a proof of the parallel postulate by
contradiction. He worked with the same
(Saccheri) quadrilaterals and attempted to
reach a contradiction from the hypotheses of
the acute and obtuse angles.
 History of the EPP: Șadr al‐Dīn al‐Țūsī
• Nașīr al‐Dīn al‐Țūsī had a son Șadr al‐Dīn who
for reasons I have been unable to ascertain
was sometimes referred to as Pseudo‐Țūsī.
• In 1298 he wrote a work based on Nașīr al‐
Dīn’s later thought, containing yet another
attempt to prove the EPP, based on another
hypothesis equivalent to EPP:
 History of the EPP: Pseudo‐Țūsī
• Pseudo‐Țūsī’s Hypothesis:
 
• Given two lines AB and CD with A*G*B and
C*H*D, with GH  CD

and GH not
perpendicular 
to AB , then the perpendiculars
dropped from AB to CD have length greater
than GH on the side on

which GH makes an
obtuse angle with AB and less than GH on the
other side.
 B
G
A

C D
H
 History of the EPP: Pseudo‐Țūsī
• Șadr al‐Dīn’s work was published in Italy in
1594 in Arabic, with a Latin title page. It was
known to both John Wallis and Girolamo
Saccheri, and could well have been part of the
foundation for their work on the EPP.
 History of the EPP: John Wallis
• 1616 ‐ 1703
• Credited with
introducing what we
now call the number
line and our current
symbol for infinity: 
• Wallis’ product:
 History of the EPP: John Wallis
• “Finally, (supposing the nature of ratio and of
the science of similar figures already known), I
take the following as a common notion: to
every figure there exists a similar figure of
arbitrary magnitude.” (1693)
History of the EPP: Girolamo Saccheri
• 1667 – 1733, Italy
• Jesuit Priest
• Wrote Euclides ab omni
naevo vindicatus (Euclid
Vindicated and Freed of
Every Flaw) in 1773,
shortly before his death.
• This work was discovered
in the mid‐1800s by
Eugenio Beltrami.
History of the EPP: Girolamo Saccheri
• Attempted to prove the EPP by contradiction,
using the quadrilaterals named after him.
• Likely influenced by the published work of
Șadr al‐Dīn al‐Țūsī.
• Eliminated the hypothesis of the obtuse angle,
but was somewhat frustrated by his attempts
to reach a contradiction from the hypothesis
of the acute angle.
History of the EPP: Girolamo Saccheri
• “It is well to consider here a notable
difference between the foregoing refutations
of the two hypotheses. For in regard to the
hypothesis of the obtuse angle the thing is
clearer than midday light. . . .But on the
contrary, I do not attain to proving the falsity
of the other hypothesis, that of the acute
angle. . . .I do not appear to demonstrate from
the viscera of the very hypothesis, as must be
done for a perfect refutation.”
History of the EPP: Girolamo Saccheri
• “Proposition XXXIII: The hypothesis of the
acute angle is absolutely false, because [it is]
repugnant to the nature of the straight line.”
 History of the EPP: Johann Lambert
• 1728 – 1777 (Alsace,
France/Switzerland)
• First proof that π is
irrational (specifically,
showed that if x is a
nonzero rational number,
then both ex and tan(x)
must be irrational.
• Finished Theorie der
Parallellinien (Theory of
Parallel Lines) in 1766. It
was never published.
Aside: The Likeness is Uncanny.
 History of the EPP: Johann Lambert
• “Undoubtedly, this basis assertion [Euclid’s V] is far less
clear and obvious than the others. Not only does it
naturally give the impression that it should be proved,
but to some extent it makes the reader feel that he is
capable of giving proof, or that he should give it.
However, to the extent to which I understand the
matter, that is just a first impression. He who reads
Euclid further is bound to be amazed not only at the
rigor of his proofs but also at the delightful simplicity of
his exposition. This being so, he will marvel all the
more at the position of the fifth postulate when he
finds out that Euclid proved propositions that could far
more easily be left unproved.”
 History of the EPP: Johann Lambert
• Considered quadrilaterals with 3 right angles, and
examined the usual three possibilities for the fourth
angle. He was able to reject the obtuse case (as did
Saccheri), but had great difficulty rejecting the acute
case.
• He did prove that the truth of the acute case implied
that similar triangles must be congruent, which implied
an absolute unit of length.
• Also noted that the defect in a triangle would be
proportional to its area.
• “This hypothesis [i.e. the acute case] would not destroy
itself at all easily.”
 History of the EPP: Alexis‐Claude
Clariaut
• 1713 – 1765 (France)
• Learned to read from Euclid.
• A mathematical prodigy, and a
focus of great public acclaim.
• "He was focused," says Bossut,
a contemporary, "with dining
and with evenings, coupled
with a lively taste for women,
and seeking to make his
pleasures into his day to day
work, he lost rest, health, and
finally life at the age of fifty‐
two."
• Published text Éléments de
Géometrie in 1741.
 History of the EPP: Alexis‐Claude
Clariaut
• Didn’t try to prove EPP in neutral Geometry,
but suggested an alternative axiom:
• Clairaut’s Axiom: Rectangles exist.
• Justification: “We observe rectangles all
around us in houses, gardens, rooms, walls.”
 History of the EPP: Adrien‐Marie
Legendre
• 1752 – 1833 (Paris, France)
• Best known as the author of
Éléments de Géométrie,
which was published in
1794 and was the leading
elementary text on the
topic for around 100 years.
This text greatly rearranged
and simplified many of the
propositions from Euclid's
Elements to create a more
effective textbook.
 Aside: Identity Theft in 1700’s
• Almost all biographies of Adrien‐
Marie Legendre shows a
lithograph which typically also
accompanies the biography of an
unrelated contemporary
politician named Louis Legendre
(1752‐1797).
• Visit
http://home.att.net/~numericana
/answer/record.htm#legendre
for the full story, and a link to
what is likely the only authentic
portrait of Adrien‐Marie
Legendre (which I shamelessly
copied onto my previous slide).
 History of the EPP: Adrien‐Marie
Legendre
• Believed he could prove EPP in neutral geometry.
He was unaware of Saccheri’s work, and
independently discovered many of Saccheri’s
main theorems, with different proofs. This
includes what is now called the Saccheri‐
Legendre Theorem.
• In his “proofs” of the EPP, assumed that every
point interior to an angle lies on a segment
joining a point on one side to a point on the other
side. Unfortunately, this is not true in hyperbolic
geometry, and is equivalent to EPP.
 History of the EPP: Georg Simon
Klügel (Who?)
• 1739 (Hamburg)‐ 1812 (Halle/Saale), • In all these attempts, which are
Germany classified by Klügel according to the
• Doctoral Thesis: “Conatuum definition of “parallelism” with which
praecipuorum theoriam parallelarum they work, Klügel found points to
demonstrandi recensio.” criticize. So he concluded that
• In his text Klügel surveys and nobody did better than Euclid did
criticizes 28 different attempts to himself.
“prove” Euclid's parallel postulate. In
particular he gives a thorough and • Remains a valuable scholarly work in
detailed discussion of Saccheri's which a history of the theory of
attempt (1733)—almost forgotten at parallels is given for the first time.
that time—and of Wallis's attempt.
Other authors considered by Klügel
are Proclos, Malezieu, Nașīr al‐Dīn al‐
Țūsī, Segner/Karsten, Koenig, Kästner,
Vitale, Hanke, Clavius, Tacquet,
Cataldi, Ramus/Schoner and Wolff.
 History of the EPP: Farkas Bolyai
• 1775 – 1856,
Transylvania, Hungary.
• His main work, the
Tentamen (Tentamen
iuventutem studiosam in
elementa matheosos
introducendi), was an
attempt at a rigorous and
systematic foundation of
geometry, arithmetic,
algebra and analysis.
 History of the EPP: Farkas Bolyai
• Much of Bolyai’s work was focused on parallel
lines, specifically proving Euclid’s V. Not
surprisingly, he had little success. Although he
encouraged his son, János, to pursue a
mathematical career, he discouraged him from
studying following him in the study of
parallelism.

• Rather strongly.
 History of the EPP: Farkas Bolyai
• You must not attempt this approach to
parallels. I know this way to its very end. I
have traversed this bottomless night, which
extinguished all light and joy of my life. I
entreat you, leave the science of parallels
alone. . . .I thought I would sacrifice myself for
the sake of the truth. I was ready to become a
martyr who would remove the flaw from
geometry and return it purified to mankind.
 History of the EPP: Farkas Bolyai
• I accomplished monstrous, enormous labors;
my creations are far better than those of
others and yet I have not achieved complete
satisfaction. . . .I turned back when I saw that
no man can reach the bottom of the night. I
turned back unconsoled, pitying myself and all
mankind.
 History of the EPP: Farkas Bolyai
• I admit that I expect little from the deviation
of your lines. It seems to me that I have been
in these regions; that I have traveled past all
reefs of this infernal Dead Sea and have
always come back with broken mast and torn
sail. The ruin of my disposition and my fall
date back to this time. I thoughtlessly risked
my life and happiness – aut Caesar aut nihil.
 History of the EPP: Farkas Bolyai
• For God's sake, please give it up. Fear it no
less than the sensual passion, because it, too,
may take up all your time and deprive you of
your health, peace of mind and happiness in
life.
What Mathematics Does to You: