Apollonius of Perga (262-190 BC), “The Great Geometer” was a younger contemporary of Archimedes. His most notable works were published in his eight books, the “Conics”.

Pythagoras — Socrates—Plato—Aristotle —–Euclid—Archimedes—Apollonius

500 BC                  400 BC                             300 BC*                      200 BC

Conics are critical to understanding the geometry around us and are severely under-taught. Apollonius proposes that there are a finite number of shapes which can be created by interesting a plane in a conic. You can imagine a conic shape with a rotating plane creating forms along the way. When it is parallel with the ground it is in a pure form, the circle. From there you tilt it slightly more…