Here's Looking at Euclid

    I believe that Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poem describes Euclid as an unparalleled genius who transcended the mediocrity of the general population to create something original; a new way of seeing the math world. The allegorical poem seems to compare Euclid to Jesus in that sense. In regards to Beauty, I think Millay is referring to it as something with great importance since she chooses to capitalize the B, making it a proper noun. She suggests that it’s subjective for everyone except for Euclid who is able to anatomize Beauty and see her bare. Euclid is able to see objective truth and does the world a service by showing Beauty to others. 

    I think Euclidean geometry has been so popular over the centuries partly due to how well 

organized and visual the math is in Euclid’s Elements and partly due to the mystery and intrigue behind Euclid. Euclidean geometry’s foundational building blocks only rely on five postulates, none of which are incredibly complicated. It starts with a point, line, and circle which makes it incredibly accessible for students starting out in math. The way that the book progresses, it becomes increasingly obvious how similar math is to art. It’s the construction of patterns and structures using basic building blocks. Euclid’s Elements is an exemplar of good mathematics that continues to inspire students. 

    My experience of learning Euclidean geometry has unfortunately not been as inspiring as my description above. I learned it mostly through lecture-style delivery. There was no discovery or creation. It focussed mostly on exercises that prepared us for a test. I was luckier than some of my peers because I had better short-term memory, at the time than others so I did well on tests, however, I would say that geometry was and still is one of my weaker areas in mathematics. The current BC curriculum gives teachers a lot more flexibility in how they teach, and I believe building a strong foundation of Euclidean geometry through exploration, discovery, and synthesis would be beneficial to students.