Q 01/05

Euclid is traditionally known by what title?

A) The father of algebra

B) The father of geometry

C) The father of astronomy

D) The father of logic

Answer · why

B) The father of geometry

His system dominated the field until the early 19th century and is still called Euclidean geometry.

Q 02/05

What is the Greek title of Euclid's great treatise, the Elements?

A) Arithmetika

B) Syntaxis

C) Stoicheia

D) Organon

Answer · why

C) Stoicheia

By metonymy "Euclid" can simply mean the book itself, or geometry in general.

Q 03/05

How many books make up the Elements?

A) Three

B) Seven

C) Thirteen

D) Twenty-one

Answer · why

C) Thirteen

Books 1 to 6 cover plane geometry, 7 to 10 number theory and 11 to 13 solid geometry, roughly speaking.

Q 04/05

In which city is Euclid generally accepted to have spent his career?

A) Athens

B) Alexandria

C) Syracuse

D) Rhodes

Answer · why

B) Alexandria

He may have been among the first scholars of Ptolemy I's Musaeum, and Apollonius later studied with his pupils there.

Q 05/05

Under which ruler's reign did Proclus place Euclid's activity?

A) Alexander the Great

B) Cleopatra VII

C) Ptolemy I

D) Ptolemy II

Answer · why

C) Ptolemy I

Ptolemy ruled from about 305 to 282 BC and built the Musaeum, Alexandria's great centre of learning.