Apollonius

Apollonius of Perga was an ancient Greek mathematician who lived around 2,000 years ago, during a time when the Greek world was rich with learning and discovery. He was born in a place called Perga, which is in modern-day Turkey, but he spent much of his life in Alexandria, Egypt, which was one of the most famous centres of learning in the ancient world. Apollonius was a student of other great mathematicians and continued their work, building upon it to create new and exciting ideas that influenced mathematics for many centuries.

Apollonius is best known for his work on conic sections, which are shapes created by slicing a cone at different angles. These shapes include circles, ellipses, parabolas, and hyperbolas. You might already be familiar with parabolas from your school lessons on quadratic equations ? the U-shaped curve that appears when you graph a quadratic equation is a parabola. Apollonius' work on these shapes was so important that he is sometimes called "The Great Geometer." His book, "Conics," was a major achievement, and even though we no longer have the original, his ideas have been passed down through other mathematicians and still play a part in mathematics today.

Beyond mathematics, Apollonius also made contributions to astronomy. He used his knowledge of conic sections to help explain the movements of planets and stars, a field that would later be expanded by famous astronomers like Johannes Kepler. Although Apollonius is primarily remembered for his mathematical achievements, his work in understanding the heavens shows how closely mathematics and astronomy were linked in ancient times.

Apollonius' contributions are important because they laid the groundwork for many ideas that are still used in mathematics and science today. Understanding his work helps us see how ancient mathematicians thought about the world and developed ideas that we continue to build upon. It's fascinating to learn about someone who lived so long ago and yet still influences the way we learn and understand the world today.

CC BY-SA 3.0 Juan Carlos Ponce Campuzano

Transum has many activities for the topic 'Graphs' and recommends you try some of them.

Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today: let's Go!