Home > Pappus of Alexandria

He was born at Alexandria of Egypt. Although very little is known about his life, the written records suggest he was a teacher.

His principal work is known as the Synagoge (c. 340). Comprising of at least eight volumes while the rest were lost, the collection covers a wide range of mathematical topics, including geometry, recreational mathematics, constructing a cube having twice the volume of a given cube, polygons and polyhedra.

In geometry, there are several theorems that are known by the generic name Pappus's Theorem, attributing them to Pappus of Alexandria. They include:

• Pappus's centroid theorem,
• the Pappus chain ,
• Pappus's harmonic theorem , and
• Pappus's hexagon theorem .

Reference

• Pappus of Alexandria Encyclopædia Britannica