"First Edition" presents timeless treasure Euclid's "Elements"

Saeed Al Madawi, General Supervisor of the Manuscripts House, explains that Euclid, a Greek mathematician, lived in Alexandria, Egypt, often referred to as the "father of geometry".His most famous book is "Elements," which is the most influential book in mathematics, especially Euclidean geometry.

Al Madawi stated during his remarks with “Sharjah 24” that the oldest manuscript of Euclid's book is the second part of "Elements," written in Greek and found around 100 BC at the archaeological site of Al-Bahnasa in Minya Governorate, Egypt. He explained that the Arabic version of the book "Taḥrīr Uṣūl al-handasah wa-al-ḥisāb" (Principles of Geometry and Arithmetic) by Nasir al-Din al-Ṭusi, was fully edited in 646 AD / 1248 AD. The text is divided into 15 articles, noting that the last two are not by Euclid and that al-Tusi attributed them to Euclid, despite Euclid having lived in the early 2nd century BC.

He noted that the first printed edition of the book dated back to (1594 AD/1002 AH) at the Typographia Medicea (Medici Oriental Press) in Rome. The edition was 452 pages.