Geometry Through History -- MATH 392, section 3 -- Spring 2016
Euclid's Proof of the Pythagorean Theorem (Proposition I.47 of the Elements)
The following animations give the idea behind Euclid's ingenious and elegant proof of the Pythagorean Theorem from Proposition 47 in Book I of the Elements. Note: Many historians of mathematics believe that this proof was probably an original contribution of Euclid since this proof does not appear elsewhere in ancient Greek mathematical texts.
Step I:
| > |
|
Step II:
| > |
 |
Step III:
| > |
 |
| > |