Oliver Byrne: The First Six Books of the Elements of Euclid
Product ID: 8954310
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Primary elements: Euclid in living color Nearly a century before Mondrian made geometrical red, yellow, and blue lines famous, 19th century mathematician Oliver Byrne employed the color scheme for the figures and diagrams in his most unusual 1847 edition of Euclid's Elements . The author makes it clear in his subtitle that this is a didactic measure intended to distinguish his edition from all others: “The Elements of Euclid in which coloured diagrams and symbols are used instead of letters for the greater ease of learners.” As Surveyor of Her Majesty’s Settlements in the Falkland Islands, Byrne had already published mathematical and engineering works previous to 1847, but never anything like his edition on Euclid. This remarkable example of Victorian printing has been described as one of the oddest and most beautiful books of the 19th century. Each proposition is set in Caslon italic, with a four-line initial, while the rest of the page is a unique riot of red, yellow, and blue. On some pages, letters and numbers only are printed in color, sprinkled over the pages like tiny wild flowers and demanding the most meticulous alignment of the different color plates for printing. Elsewhere, solid squares, triangles, and circles are printed in bright colors, expressing a verve not seen again on the pages of a book until the era of Dufy, Matisse, and Derain. Text in English, French, and German
| Dimensions | 8.5 x 1.5 x 10.5 inches |
| Edition | Reprint |
| Isbn 10 | 3836544717 |
| Isbn 13 | 978-3836544719 |
| Item Weight | 3.25 pounds |
| Language | English, French, German |
| Print Length | 396 pages |
| Publication Date | December 15, 2013 |
| Publisher | TASCHEN |
User
What a great idea!
Why didn't I think of this? Instead of trying to follow geometric proofs by tediously identifying what line segments and angles are being discussed, Byrne just color-coded them. All you have to do is look. It reduces the tedium of a tough argument to simple. The book cover shows the idea being used to illustrate the Pythagorean theorem. Great idea.My only complaint about the book is that the color renderings aren't as good as they should be. It's not enough of a problem to dock a star, but hopefully the publishers will make a more vibrantly colored edition. I'd buy it if they did.
User
This is a fantastic book. The preface explains the whole thing
This is a fantastic book. The preface explains the whole thing. Using colors instead of labels really cleans up the diagrams and proof text. If you compare one of the proofs from this book to a traditional one the advantage is clear. Even if you don't need to learn this material for school or work it is a beautiful book to browse.
User
Son really likes this book
Son loves this gift book. Was purchased for him at his request. He really likes the color illustrations. Not sure why, but a good choice for the math geek in your life!
User
A beautiful book to hold and study
This is a beautiful book to look at - it is an amazing piece of typography. The language used can be difficult to read (I had no idea that 'conterminous' was even a word, let alone what it meant), so I've found it useful to work through Byrne in conjunction with Heath's translation of The Elements. My original intention in purchasing Oliver Byrne's Six Books of Euclid was to work through Euclid with my children - I was hoping that it would be a more approachable text than Heath's translation. It is in many ways; however there are still many difficulties and subtleties that require concentrated effort. There is no easy road to enlightenment.There are various essays at the end of the book, but I felt that these were a distraction and could easily have been left out - I was after Euclid, and Euclid alone!Recommended if you like thinking about triangles.
User
A must read for all geometry teachers and lovers of ...
A must read for all geometry teachers and lovers of the subject. Oliver Byrne was way ahead of his time. I saw an original edition in the rare books collection of the National Library in Washington DC
User
Very cool book to have
Written in a font that apparently has an "s" character that looks very much the same as the "f" character. Is this the original way the book was published? Once you get past that, the colors definitely help explaining the geometric proofs. Indirectly, it demonstrates how geometric constructions are possible. With a little reasoning, you can construct almost any n-sided regular polygon ("n" being limited by user skill). Very cool book to have.
User
Very nice book
Great illustrations and great publishing quality. Overall a great reprint of the old book! Explains a lot of Euclid principles with very nice pictures.
User
How information should be communicated
The publisher's marketing copy is an accurate portrayal of this volume's worth, to designers, text book authors and educators. Would that a similarly lucent history be written to outline the evolution of Euclidian concepts from Egyptian fonts; or to chronicle how Hindu, Persian and Islamic cultures advanced and transmitted this knowledge forward unto the modern era. Hope springs eternal...
User
... his copy of this book and it is really beautiful so I bought it for a friend for Christmas
a friend showed me his copy of this book and it is really beautiful so I bought it for a friend for Christmas. Best feedback of any gift this year as he loved it. As other people have said its a bit of a cross between Mondrian and a basic geometry text - beautiful to look at and originally drafted in the 19th Century. For anyone who loves maths or design or both it is really recommended.
User
美しい！
ズ〜ッと欲しかったのに、どうして買わなかったんだろう？数学の説明なんて簡単だから、辞書を片手に高校生でも読めるでしょう。なにより色が美しいので、一家に一冊、飾って置くだけでもいい。子供が出来たら、絵本に混ぜてやれば良い。紙の質が悪く、紙すきの段階で若干のゴミが混じっているのも良い！w。（なんでも良いんだなっ！w）
User
Five Stars
Awesome book
User
Euklid halt
Hat er gut gemacht, hat der Verlag und der Herausgeber gut gemacht.Wünschenswert wäre, wenn nun LeserInnen nachziehen.Ggf. macht sich das Buch für Ignoranten auch gut im Bücherschrank.
User
super ré-édition
ouvrage très intéressant, historiquement (doublement) & scientifiquementavec une qualité de l'édition impeccableet une approche graphique des théorèmes très instructive
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