In geometry, Thales's theorem states that if A, B, and C are distinct points on a circle where the line AC is a diameter, the angle ∠ ABC is a right angle. Thales's theorem is a special case of the inscribed angle theorem and is mentioned and proved as part of the 31st proposition in the third book of Euclid's Elements. It is generally attributed to Thales of Miletus, but it is sometimes attributed to Pythagoras.
Non si est dare primum motum esse o se del mezzo cerchio far si puote triangol sì c'un recto nonauesse. – Dante's Paradiso, Canto 13, lines 100–102 Non si est dare primum motum esse, Or if in semicircle can be made Triangle so that it have no right angle. – English translation by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Geometry is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is called a geometer. Until the 19th century, geometry was almost exclusively devoted to Euclidean geometry, which includes the notions of point, line, plane, distance, angle, surface, and curve, as fundamental concepts.
A European and an Arab practicing geometry in the 15th century
Woman teaching geometry. Illustration at the beginning of a medieval translation of Euclid's Elements, (c. 1310).
Visual checking of the Pythagorean theorem for the (3, 4, 5) triangle as in the Zhoubi Suanjing 500–200 BC. The Pythagorean theorem is a consequence of the Euclidean metric.
Quintic Calabi–Yau threefold
