P l a n e  

G e o m e t r y An Adventure in Language and Logic based on

INTRODUCTION
Geometry:  The Study of Figures
GEOMETRY, which literally means land measurement, is the study

of figures.  A circle is a figure, a triangle is a figure.  A figure is whatever has a boundary. What
we aspire to is knowledge of figures: their properties, their relationships, and how to construct
them. It is with the ideas of the figures that geometry proceeds.

In these pages, we present an English version of the very first textbook on geometry, a book
assembled by the Greek scholar Euclid in the 4th century B.C.  It is the most remarkable
textbook the world has ever seen: the Elements of geometry and arithmetic. Written in simple,
straightforward language, the Elements has been translated the world over, and through the
centuries it has been the model for clear and eloquent reasoning.  It was the first work to
introduce what is called rigor into mathematics.  That same rigor ("What gives us the right to say
that we really know?") is part of the culture of mathematics today, and it is the model followed
by theoretical physics.  Anyone truly interested in what mathematics is, can have no firmer
foundation than Euclid.
Efforts have always been made to express the Elements in the language of each time and place.
The pages that follow are adapted from the translation by Sir Thomas Heath (Dover) as well as
the edition of Isaac Todhunter (Elibron Classics).
What distinguishes Euclid's text from today's, is that it is completely verbal.  There is no algebra,
no symbols for "angle" or "equals." And there are no two-column proofs  Geometry in this way
embraces logic, grammar and rhetoric, which at one time were the essential liberal arts. What
students see, they put into words.  For geometry is based on looking, and the sensitivity it
develops is the essence of science.
Now, we can see that when two sides of a triangle are equal, then the

angles at the base are also equal.  Or, when two straight lines intersect, the angles labeled 1 and 2
are equal.  But what distinguished the Greeks is that they wanted to explain how they knew that
what they saw was true. They were the first to present those facts in the framework of a logical
science.  And after introducing some terms, we will see precisely what that means.
Plane geometry

In plane geometry, we study figures that are flat, and their boundaries are called lines, or, in the
case of a circle, a single line.  We say that a line, which may be either straight or curved, is a
length.  We do not mean length as opposed to width; we mean any actual or potential boundary
of a plane figure.

A line, too, may have its boundaries, or extremities, and we call these points.  "Point" is a
convenient word, when we need it, to call attention to a specific place.  Point is a verbal and
therefore a logical element only. A line is not physically composed of points.  (We may say that
a point "exists" when we refer to one.)
We name a line by naming its extremities, its endpoints, with capital letters, thus we speak of the
line AB.

Or we could call it BA, it does not matter, except if we want to emphasize that it extends in one
direction, we would call it AB; if in the other direction, BA.
The space enclosed by the boundary -- the figure itself --

is called area.

An angle is formed when two straight lines meet.  The point --

the place -- where they meet is called the vertex.  We name an angle with three letters -- "angle
ABC" -- and we place the vertex in the center. When there is no doubt as to which point is the
vertex, we may say "the angle at B," or simply "angle B."

Magnitudes
A magnitude is whatever has size: it could be larger or smaller.  Length, area, and angle are the
three kinds of magnitudes we study in plane geometry.  We compare magnitudes of the same
kind, and we try to decide how they are related.  Two lengths, two areas, or two angles either
will be equal to one another, or one of them will be larger.
If we say, then, that these two triangles are equal --
-- we mean that they are equal areas.  Because that is what kind of magnitude a triangle is.  The
space enclosed by each boundary will be exactly the same.
A magnitude is not like a natural number, because a magnitude is continuous, while a natual
number -- a collection of indivisible units -- is discrete.
Also, the words length and area are sometimes used to mean the measure of those magnitudes --
a number. But in plane geometry, the length and area are the magnitudes themselves, not
numbers.

Straight lines
Each straight line that forms the boundary of a square, for example, will have two
extremities; obviously.  But we imagine that we could extend a straight line for as far as
we please, and therefore we say that a straight line is potentially infinite.  To be
potentially infinite is in marked contrast to being actually infinite -- which would mean that it has
no endpoints at all
In plane geometry we have no need of the idea of actually infinite lines (for they are only ideas);
in what is called analytic geometry, they think they do.  It is only finite lines -- the actual or
potential boundaries of a figure -- that we ever require.  Hence, when we speak of a "straight
line," we mean what we can actually experience or draw:  a line with two extremities.
Those who think they need actually infinite lines even in plane geometry, imagine that
any finite line, such as a side of a square, is a segment -- a part -- of an actually infinite
line. (Strange. No?) Hence they call a side of a square a "line segment." The idea in plane
geometry is quite the reverse, namely that we can extend any straight line for as far as we please.
These quarrels about actual versus potential infinities arise only when straight lines are
abstracted from the boundaries of figures. But in plane geometry it is the figures that concern us,
and in the ultimate theorems, straight lines appear only as the boundaries of figures.
Also, just because we can define something (such as an actually infinite line) does not
guarantee that it exists. (We can define a unicorn. But does a unicorn exist?) As we shall see, the
mathematical existence
of what has been defined, requires that we be able to produce it.
This completes the preliminary description, this is what plane geometry is about; we are now
ready to study it as a logical science.

Logic
The method of logic is to know or prove something through reasoning, and it provides one
answer to the question, "How do I know?"  One can reply, "I deduced it." (Latin de, away from +
ducere, to lead.)  Hence when we deduce or prove something, we are led, through reasoning,
from what we know to what we can conclude.
Now, it is not possible to prove every statement.  If we had to do that, there would be no end.
Rather, to prove or explain anything is to do so in terms of something simpler, something that we
already know and accept.
Similarly, it is not possible to define every word, because we must already understand the words
in which a definition is framed.  An example from arithmetic is the impossibility of defining one.
(Try ) That does not mean that we do not understand one.  An example from geometry is the
impossibility of defining a straight line -- because nothing is known better, or is more
fundamental, than the idea of a straight line.
Logic, then, which is the science of reasoning, is not founded on reasoning.  It is founded on
irreducible understanding, on what we call first principles.  They provide the basis for proving.
The first principles of Euclid's geometry are in three categories:
1) Definitions
2) Postulates
3) Axioms or Common Notions
The statements found in these first principles will justify the statements we will make in the
proofs, or propositions, that follow.
Before presenting the first principles, let us become familiar with the vocabulary of logic.
Introduction to Logic
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Copyright © 2006-2010 Lawrence Spector

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E-mail:  themathpage@nyc.rr.com

INTRODUCTION TO LOGIC
Hypothesis and conclusion:
Necessary and sufficient
The converse
"if and only if"
The contradiction
The contrapositive
The inverse
Valid arguments

LOGIC, WE COULD SAY, is the study of If-then sentences.

If a number is divisible by 10, then it is divisible by 2.
The clause introduced by If --
A number is divisible by 10
-- is called the hypothesis.  It is what we are given, or what we may
assume.
The clause introduced by then --
It is divisible by 2
-- is called the conclusion.  It is the statement that "follows" from the
hypothesis.  Or, given the hypothesis, it is the statement that we must
prove.
When the If-then sentence is true, we say that the hypothesis is
asufficient condition for the conclusion.  Thus it is sufficient to know that a
number is divisible by 10 -- in order to conclude that it is divisible by 2.
The conclusion is then called a necessary condition of that hypothesis.
For, if a number is divisible by 10, it necessarily follows that it will be
divisible by 2.
Problem 1.   If two numbers are even, then their sum is even.
Name the hypothesis and the conclusion. Which of them is the
sufficient condition, and which the necessary condition?
To see the answer, pass your mouse over the colored area. 
To cover the answer again, click "Refresh" ("Reload").
Do the problem yourself first!
The hypothesis is "Two numbers are even." It is the sufficient
condition.
The conclusion is "Their sum is even." It is the necessary condition.
Note that the hypothesis is a sentence, independent of "If."   And the
conclusion is a sentence, independent of "then."
Problem 2.   A number is divisible by 3 if it is divisible by 6.
Name the hypothesis and the conclusion. Which of them is the
sufficient condition, and which the necessary condition?
The hypothesis is "A number is divisible by 6." It is that clause that
follows "if." It is the sufficient condition.
The conclusion is "The number is divisible by 3." It is the necessary
condition.
Problem 3.   If a number ends in 0, then it is a multiple of 5.
Is the hypothesis a sufficient condition for that conclusion?
 Yes, because the statement is true.
Problem 4.   If a number is a multiple of 5, then it ends in 0.
Is the hypothesis a sufficient condition for that conclusion?
No, because the statement is false.  15 is a multiple of 5, but 15 does
not end in 0.
Problem 5.   If a number is prime, then it is odd.
Is the conclusion a necessary condition of that hypothesis?
No, because the statement is false.  2 is a prime, and it is not odd.
Problem 6.   If two numbers are even, then their product is even.
Is the conclusion a necessary condition of that hypothesis?
Yes, because the statement is true.
Problem 7.   Express each of these as an If-then sentence.
 a)  a is a sufficient condition for b.
If a, then b.
 b)  a is a necessary condition of b.
If b, then a.
Other forms
The hypothesis and conclusion will not always appear in If-then form.  For
example,
All right angles are equal.
This is equivalent to saying
If these angles are right angles, then they are equal.
Therefore, the hypothesis of  All right angles are equal  is
These angles are right angles.
And the conclusion is
These angles are equal.
Problem 8.   Express the following in If-then form, and so discover its
hypothesis and conclusion.
In an isosceles triangle the angles at the base are equal.
 If a triangle is isosceles, then the angles at the base are equal.
The hypothesis is A triangle is isosceles. The conclusion is The
angles at the base are equal.

The converse
To form the converse of an If-then sentence, exchange the hypothesis and
conclusion.  The converse of
If p, then q,
where p and q are sentences, is
If q, then p.
Clearly, if an If-then sentence is true, its converse is not necessarily
true.
Problem 9.    State the converse of each statement, and then decide
whether the converse is true.  (Note that each statement is true.)
 a)  If a number ends in 5, then it is a multiple of 5.
If a number is a multiple of 5, then it ends in 5. 
False.  20, for example, is a multiple of 5.
 b)  If a number is a multiple of 10, then it ends in 0.
If a number ends in 0, then it is a multiple of 10. 
True.  All numbers that end in 0 are multiples of 10.
Problem 10.   State the converse of  All right angles are equal.
All equal angles are right angles. 
Which is false.

If a statement has two hypotheses -- If a and b, then c -- then a partial
converse is:  If a and c, then b.

"if and only if"

If a statement  If a, then b  and its converse  If b, then a  are both true, we
say "a if and only if b."
In other words, a is both necessary and sufficient for b.
 For example,
A triangle is isosceles if and only if the base angles are equal.
This means
If a triangle is isosceles, then the base angles are equal
and conversely,
If the base angles are equal, then the triangle is isosceles.
Problem 11.   What does it mean to say, "A number is a multiple of 10 if
and only if it ends in 0"?
If a number is a multiple of 10, then it ends in 0;
and conversely, if a number ends in 0, then it is a multiple of 10.
Problem 12.   What does it mean to say, "p is both necessary and
sufficient for q."
If p, then q is true; and conversely, If q, then p is true. That is, p if
and only if q.
Problem 13.   Which of these if and only if statements is true.  Explain.
a)  A number is divisible by 6 if and only if it is divisible by both 2 and 3.
True. Because if a number is divisible by 6, then it is divisible by both
2 and 3. And conversely.
b)  A number is a multiple of 9 if and only if it is a multiple of 3.
False. It is true that if a number is a multiple of 9, then it is a multiple
of 3. (All multiples of 9 are multiples of 3.) 
But the converse is false.
c)  A fraction is in lowest terms if and only if the numerator and 
c)  denominator have no common divisors except 1.
True. Because if a fraction is in lowest terms, then the numerator and
denominator have no common divisors except 1.  And conversely.

The contradiction
If a is a statement, then its contradiction (or its negation) is a statement that
is equivalent to saying, "It is not true that a."  We symbolize the
contradiction as Not-a.
 For example, the contradiction of
These lines are parallel
is
These lines are not parallel.
Now, a statement must be either true or false.  (That is called the law
of the excluded middle.  We may even take it to be the definition of a
"statement.")  And according to what is called the law of non-
contradiction:  A statement and its contradiction cannot both be true.  One
of them must be true and the other, false.

The contrapositive
"If you're not in Kansas, then you're not in Salina."
According to that statement, where is Salina?

It must be in Kansas.  Because if you're anywhere in the shaded area 

-- Not in Kansas -- then according to the statement, you're not in Salina.
In other words, "If you're in Salina, then you're in Kansas."
That sentence has the form:
If a, then b.
The statement "If you're not in Kansas, then you're not in Salina" has
the form:
If not-b, then not-a.
We call it the contrapositive of "If a, then b."  The hypothesis and
conclusion are exchanged and contradicted.
 We say that a statement and its contrapositive are "logically
equivalent."  That is a technical way of saying that they mean the same.
They will either both be true or both be false.
Problem 14.   State the contrapositive.
a)  If a number ends in 6, then it's even.
If a number is not even, then it does not end in 6.
b)  If two lines are parallel, then they do not meet.
If two lines meet, then they are not parallel.
c)  If q, then not-p.
If p, then not-q.

The inverse
The remaining variation of an If-then sentence is called the inverse.  The
inverse of
If a, then b
is
If not-a, then not-b.
We contradict both the hypothesis and the conclusion.
Now the inverse means the same as the converse --
If b, then a
-- because the inverse is the contrapositive of the converse.
Problem 15.   If a triangle is isosceles, then the base angles are equal.
a)  State the inverse.
If a triangle is not isosceles, then the base angles are not equal.
b)  State the converse.
If the base angles of a triangle are equal, then the triangle is
isosceles.
c)  State the contrapositive.
If the base angles of a triangle are not equal, then the triangle is
not isosceles.
d)  Of the three statements a), b), c), which ones mean the same, that is, 
d)  which are logically equivalent?
a) and b).  Sentence c) is equivalent to the original.
The student should realize that to construct the variations of an 
If-then sentence, it is not necessary to know what the If-then sentence
means!  The variations can be constructed purely formally.
Problem 16.   State the contrapositive.
a)  If p, then q.  If not-q, then not-p.
b)  If not-q, then not-p.  If p, then q.
c)  If not-p, then not-q.  If q, then p.
d)  If q, then p.  If not-p, then not-q.
Problem 17.   In the previous problem, with respect to sentence a),
What is sentence d) called?  The converse.
What is sentence c) called?  The inverse.
What is sentence b) called?  The contrapositive.
Which of those four sentences mean the same?  a) and b).  c) and d).

Valid arguments
The classic example of what is called a valid argument is the syllogism:
1.   All men are mortal.
2.   Socrates is man.
3.   Therefore, Socrates is mortal.
Statements 1 and 2 are the hypothesis.  Statement 3 is the conclusion.
Equivalently,
If all men are mortal, and Socrates is a man,
then Socrates is mortal.
What characterizes this or any valid argument is the following:
If the hypothesis is true, then the conclusion must be true.
 For if the class of things called "Men" are all members of the class
called "Mortals," and Socrates is a member of "Men," then Socrates
necessarily must be a member of "Mortals."

The essence of this argument is its form, which is as follows:

1.   All A's are B's.
2.   x is an A.
3.   Therefore, x is a B.
Problem 18.   Try to draw a valid conclusion from the following
hypotheses.  Keep in mind that you may assume only what is stated in the
hypothesis.
a)   All butchers wear straw hats.
b)   My uncle wears a straw hat.
b)   Therefore, No valid conclusion. This is not the form of a syllogism. If
the second statement were, "My uncle is a butcher," then we could
conclude, "My uncle wears a straw hat."
Look at the form above. x must belong to the first named class, not the
second.
b)   All multiples of 10 are odd.
d)   80 is a multiple of 10.
d)   Therefore, 80 is odd.
We see an important point here.  This conclusion is valid.  But it is
not true.  Thus we must distinguish between truth and validity. Validity
depends only on the form.  We can judge truth only on the meaning.
c)   All multiples of 5 are even.
c)   8 is a multiple of 5.
c)   Therefore, 8 is even.
We see here another point, and an extremely important one:
A false hypothesis can lead to a true conclusion.
In other words, the truth of a conclusion does not guarantee the truth
of its hypothesis.  This is fundamental to all argument, all explanations
founded on logic, and especially to that philosophy of nature called
science.
In science, the conclusions are what is actually observed. The
hypotheses are the theoretical or mathematical explanations.

d)   All multiples of 10 are even.

e)   80 is even.
c)   Therefore, No valid conclusion.  This is not the form of a syllogism.
Problem 19.   Complete the following with either "must be true," 
"must be false," or "may be true or false."
a)  In a valid argument, if the hypothesis is true, then the conclusion
a)  must be true.  This in fact is all that logic can tell us about truth.
b)  In a valid argument, if the hypothesis is false, then the conclusion 
b)  may be true or false.  If at least one statement of the hypothesis is 
b)  false, then we consider the hypothesis to be false.  Compare Problems 
b)  18b) and c).
c)   In a valid argument, if the conclusion is false, then the hypothesis 
b)  must be false.  Compare Problem 18b).
c)  It is this principle, in fact, that leads to a method called proof by 
c)  contradiction.  We take as hypothesis that what we want to prove is 
b)  false — statement a is false.  We then show how that hypothesis leads 
c)  to a false conclusion -- that 80 for example is an odd number.  The 
c)  hypothesis therefore must be false. Statement a is in fact true.
We are now ready to state the first principles of geometry.

First Principles
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