Knowra Pappus of Alexandria Pappus of Alexandria Pappus of Alexandria was a Greek mathematician active around the fourth century CE. His Collection preserves and discusses major results and methods from earlier Greek mathematics.
Euclidean geometry : A mathematical system based on points, lines, planes, and axioms, developed in Euclid’s Elements . Its propositions and constructions form much of the geometry surveyed in the Collection .
Pappus's centroid theorem : A pair of theorems relating the surface area or volume generated by rotation to a curve or area and its centroid. These theorems are the best-known results associated with Pappus’s name.
The Collection : Pappus’s eight-book survey of Greek mathematics, preserving summaries, commentary, and original mathematical material. It is the principal surviving source for Pappus’s work and reputation.
Greek mathematical transmission : The copying, translation, commentary, and teaching through which Greek mathematical works reached later cultures. Pappus’s compilation became one route by which earlier mathematical knowledge survived.
Conic section : A curve formed by intersecting a plane with a cone, including ellipses, parabolas, and hyperbolas. Pappus discusses conic geometry within the Greek mathematical work he transmits.
Pappus's hexagon theorem : A projective geometry theorem stating that intersections formed from six points on two lines lie on one line. This later theorem bears Pappus’s name, though it is not securely attributable to him.
Late antiquity : The transitional period between classical antiquity and the Middle Ages, conventionally dated from the third to eighth centuries CE. Pappus worked during this period, when Greek mathematical texts were being collected and transmitted.
Pappus's commentary on Euclid : Pappus’s surviving discussion of Euclid’s Elements , including explanations of geometric methods and propositions. It shows how Pappus joined exposition of earlier mathematics with his own analysis.
Geometric construction : A geometric figure produced using specified tools and construction rules, classically a straightedge and compass. Construction problems are among the methods and problems treated in Pappus’s survey.
Centroid : The geometric center of a figure, defined as the mean position of its points or mass. Centroids are central to the surface and volume relations named after Pappus.
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