John Wallis
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John Wallis was an English clergyman and mathematician, who is given partial credit for the development of infinitesimal calculus.
John Wallis by Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt
Opera mathematica, 1699
Parallel postulate
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In geometry, the parallel postulate is the fifth postulate in Euclid's Elements and a distinctive axiom in Euclidean geometry. It states that, in two-dimensional geometry:
John Wallis
…inspired by the works of Islamic mathematician Sadr al-Tusi, the son of Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, particularly by al-Tusi's book written in 1298 on the parallel postulate. The book was based on his father's thoughts and presented one of the earliest arguments for a non-Euclidean hypothesis equivalent to the parallel…
The page containing the Parallel Postulate from the 1747 Latin edition of Euclid’s Elements, originally Euclid’s 5th Postulate, here reclassified and presented as Axiom XII by the editor.