Welcome to MathOverflow

Question

4

1

Does anyone know where I can find an english translation, preferrably online or in a book the library of a small liberal arts college would be likely to have, of the original proof of Pappus' hexagon theorem from projective geometry?

edited Jan 12 2012 at 19:27

asked Jan 12 2012 at 17:25

Avi Steiner
377●8

Well, I managed to find a proof using only Euclidean Geometry at Cut-the-Knot: cut-the-knot.org/pythagoras/Pappus.shtml . I have no idea whether this is the original proof, though. – Avi Steiner Jan 19 2012 at 20:48

Igor Rivin · Answer 1 · 2012-01-12 20:59:33Z UTC

5

This is available in the Loeb Classics Library, Greek Mathematical Works, Vol II (edited by Ivor Thomas), page 600.The Loeb CL can probably be found in its entirety in many liberal arts college libraries. For your convenience, you can find the book here.

edited Jan 12 2012 at 20:59

answered Jan 12 2012 at 19:34

Igor Rivin
31.1k●3●37●71

	Igor, although the book does seem to have a lot, neither page 600 nor the rest of the book has the particular theorem and proof I'm looking for. Thanks, though. – Avi Steiner Jan 12 2012 at 23:22
	Hmm, may have been a slight delusion on my part. I will investigate further... – Igor Rivin Jan 12 2012 at 23:54

Ralph · Answer 2 · 2012-01-13 23:18:27Z UTC

Stumbled by coincidence today over the book "Sir Thomas Heath: A History of Greek Mathematics, II". Chapter XIX (pp. 355-439) is devoted to Papus and contains a lot of (mathematical) stuff. Perhaps you can find there what you are looking for.

You can find the book online at the page

$\quad\quad$ http://www.archive.org/details/historyofgreekma029268mbp

(PDF on the left, download may take a while).

Original proof of Pappus' Hexagon Theorem

Remember to vote up questions/answers you find interesting or helpful (requires 15 reputation points)

2 Answers

You can accept an answer to one of your own questions by clicking the check mark next to it. This awards 15 reputation points to the person who answered and 2 reputation points to you.