¶ Tools of Geometry (1)
← Tools: Externalized Tooling Per Capita (2) | Tools of Geometry (2) →
Index Entry
Tools of Geometry:
"The early Greek geometers and their Egyptian and Babylonian predecessors pursued the science of geometry with three basic tools: the dividers, the straightedge, and the scriber. They established the rule that they could not introduce information into their exploration unless it was acquired empirically by the use of those tools. With the progressive interactive use of these three tools they produced modular areas, angles, and linear spaces.
“The basic flaw in their game was that they failed to identify and define as a tool the surface on which the inscribed. In absolute reality this surface constituted a fourth tool absolutely essential to their demonstration. The absolute error of this oversight was missed at the time due to the minusculse size of man in relation to his planet Earth. While there were a few who conceived of the Earth as a sphere, they assumed that a local planar condition existed-- which the vast majority of humans assumed to be extended to infinity, with a four-cornered Earth plane surrounded by the plane or water that went to infinity.”
