Mathematician:Theaetetus of Athens
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Mathematician
Greek mathematician whose principal contribution was the material on irrational lengths, included in Book $\text X$ of Euclid's The Elements.
Also proved that there are precisely five regular convex polyhedra.
All we know about him was what Plato (who rated him highly) wrote about him.
Nationality
Greek
History
- Born: about 417 BCE in Athens, Greece
- Died: about 369 BCE in Athens, Greece
Theorems and Definitions
- Five Platonic Solids
- Much if not all of the content of Book $\text X$ of Euclid's The Elements
Sources
- John J. O'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson: "Theaetetus of Athens": MacTutor History of Mathematics archive
- 1986: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers ... (previous) ... (next): A List of Mathematicians in Chronological Sequence
- 1997: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): A List of Mathematicians in Chronological Sequence
- 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Theaetetus (c. 414-c. 369 bc)
- 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Theaetetus (c. 414-c. 369 bc)