Page:First six books of the elements of Euclid 1847 Byrne.djvu/11



HE arts and sciences have become so extensive, that to facilitate their acquirement is of as much importance as to extend their boundaries. Illustration, if it does not shorten the time of study, will at least make it more agreeable. has a greater aim than mere illustration; we do not introduce colours for the purpose of entertainment, or to amuse by certain combinations of tint and form, but to assist the mind in its researches after truth, to increase the facilities of instruction, and to diffuse permanent knowledge. If we wanted authorities to prove the importance and usefulness of geometry, we might quote every philosopher since the days of Plato. Among the Greeks, in ancient, as in the school of Pestalozzi and others in recent times, geometry was adopted as the best gymnastic of the mind. In fact, Euclid's Elements have become, by common consent, the basis of mathematical science all over the civilized globe. But this will not appear extraordinary, if we consider that this sublime science is not only better calculated than any other to call forth the spirit of inquiry, to elevate the mind, and to strengthen the reasoning faculties, but also it forms the best introduction to most of the useful and important vocations of human life. Arithmetic, land-surveying, mensuration, engineering, navigation, mechanics, hydrostatics, pneumatics, optics, physical astronomy, &c. are all dependent on the propositions of geometry.