A Brief Historical Note on Properties of Triangles

A Brief Historical Note on Properties of Triangles

From the beginning, triangles have been utilised in beautiful patterns. Pythagoras is credited with some of the first geometrical discoveries relating to the properties of triangles, such as the right angled triangle. However, millennia before Pythagoras, the sulbasutra period in India gave us some intriguing features of triangles. Like Ceva's theorem, many theorems deal with properties of triangles.

However, the systematic approach to geometry in general, and properties of triangles in particular, may be traced back to the Greek period and Euclid's Elements. The Greeks urged that geometrical fact be proven using deductive reasoning rather than empirical techniques, as was the case in many prior cultures, and that geometrical conclusions be reached through logical proof rather than trial and error experimentation.

In other words, the Greeks changed the empirical geometry of the Egyptians, Babylonians, and Indians into logical or demonstrative geometry.

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