Ancient Greek Mathematics

Abstract

This chapter is addressed to those who wish to read the original sources of Greco-Roman mathematics, either in the original languages or in modern translations. Hence, it focuses on the kinds of mathematics that was disseminated in treatises written by scholars who were members of a relatively small literary elite. This theoretical style of mathematics was not the only kind of mathematics practised in Greco-Roman antiquity, and, indeed, the total number authors of philosophical mathematics must have been dwarfed by the number of individuals who used practical mathematics in their daily work, and who passed on such mathematical skills to their sons, disciples, and apprentices. Nevertheless, the literary works produced by this self-selected group of individuals have elicited the admiration and study of mathematical scholars through the centuries, and have justly been regarded as one of the most important products of ancient scholarship.