| Abstract: | Two early encyclopaedic treatises, written in Arabic, include extensive discussion of geometry. Although both the Rasā'il Ikhwān al-Safā' and the Kitāb al-Shifā' fall within the Euclidean tradition, their style and content differ radically. The Neo-Pythagorean and Neo-Platonic Ikhwān al-Safā' place mathematics at the head of their encyclopaedia, but develop their discussion of geometry using a "sub-Euclidean" approach. Ibn Sīnā, whose orientation is broadly Aristotelian, includes an epitome of Euclid's Elements in its entirety, yet modifies the text at numerous points. |
