A brief history of

NON-EUCLIDEAN
DANIEL MARSHALL
& PAUL SCOTT
GEOMETRY
Euclid It is clear that the fifth postulate is very
different to the other four. In fact, in The
Around 300 BC, Euclid wrote The Elements, a Elements, the first 28 results are proved
major treatise on the geometry of the time, and without it. As a result of this difference, many
what would be considered ‘geometry’ for many attempts were made to try to prove the fifth
years after. Arguably The Elements is the postulate using the previous four postulates.
second most read book of the western world, One earlier attempt at this was made by
falling short only to The Bible. In his book, Proclus (410–485). Despite his attempts even-
Euclid states five postulates of geometry which tually resulting in failure, Proclus discovered
he uses as the foundation for all his proofs. It an equivalent statement for the fifth postulate.
is from these postulates we get the term This is now known as Playfair’s Axiom. It says
Euclidean geometry, for in these Euclid strove the following:
to define what constitutes ‘flat-surface’ geom-
etry. These postulates are: Given a line and a point not on the line, it is
1. [It is possible] to draw a straight line possible to draw exactly one line through the
from any point to any other. given point parallel to the line.
2. [It is possible] to produce a finite straight
line continuously in a straight line.
3. [It is possible] to describe a circle with Saccheri
any centre and distance [radius].
4. That all right angles The attempts to try and prove the fifth postu-
are equal to each late in terms of the other four continued. The
other. first major breakthrough was due to Girolamo
5. That, if a straight Saccheri in 1697. His technique involves
line falling on two assuming the fifth postulate false and
straight lines makes attempting to derive a contradiction. What
the interior angles Saccheri finds is shown in the diagram on
on the same side page 3: the summit angles ADC and BCD are
less than two right equal. This gives three cases for him to
angles, the two consider:
lines, if produced 1. The summit angles are > 90 degrees
indefinitely, meet on (hypothesis of the obtuse angle).
that side on which 2. The summit angles are < 90 degrees
the angles are less (hypothesis of the acute angle).
than the two right 3. The summit angles are = 90 degrees
Euclid
angles. (hypothesis of the right angle).

2 amt 60 (3)
 Using Euclid’s assumption that a straight necessity of thought. As is often the case in
line is infinite, Saccheri manages to derive a mathematics, similar ideas were developed
contradiction for the first hypothesis and a independently by Janos Bolyai. His father,
hazy contradiction for the second one. Around Wolfgang Bolyai, friend of Gauss, had once
100 years later, Legendre also worked at the told Janos,
problem. He gives another equivalent state-
ment to the fifth postulate, that is: You ought not to try the road of the parallels;
I know the road to its end — I have passed
The sum of the angles of a triangle is equal to through this bottomless night, every light
two right angles. and every joy of my life has been extin-
guished by it — I implore you for God’s sake,
Using a similar idea to Saccheri’s, Legendre leave the lesson of the parallels in peace… I
showed that the sum of the angles of a triangle had purposed to sacrifice myself to the truth;
cannot be greater than two right angles; I would have been prepared to be a martyr if
however his proof rests on the assumption of only I could have delivered to the human race
infinite lines. Legendre also provided a proof a geometry cleansed of this blot. I have
on the sum not being less than two right performed dreadful, enormous labours; I
angles, but again there was a flaw, in that he have accomplished far more than was
makes an assumption equivalent to the fifth accomplished up until now; but never have I
postulate. found complete satisfaction… When I discov-
ered that the bottom of this night cannot be
reached from the earth, I turned back
Gauss and Bolyai without solace, pitying myself and the entire
human race.
The first person to understand the problem of
the fifth postulate was Gauss. In 1817, after Janos ignored his father’s impassioned
looking at the problem for many years, he had plea, however, and worked on the problem
become convinced it was independent of the himself. Like Gauss, he looked at the conse-
other four. Gauss then began to look at the quences of the fifth postulate not being
consequences of a geometry where this fifth necessary. His major breakthrough, was not
postulate was not necessarily true. He never his work, which had already been done by
published his work due to pressure of time, Gauss, but the fact that he believed that this
perhaps illustrating Kant’s statement that ‘other’ geometry actually existed. Despite the
Euclidean geometry requires the inevitable revolutionary new ideas that were being put
forward, there was little public recognition to
be had.
D C

Lobachevsky

Another mathematician, Lobachevsky, worked

on the same problems as Gauss and Bolyai
but again, despite working at the same time,
he knew nothing of their work. Lobachevsky
A B
also assumed the fifth postulate was not
necessary and from this formed a new geom-
∆ABD is congruent to ∆BAC (two sides and etry. In 1840, he explained how this new
included angle). Hence AC = BD so ∆ADC is geometry would work (see diagram on page 4):
congruent to ∆BCD (three sides). Therefore
∠ADC = ∠BCD. All straight lines which in a plane go out from
a point can, with reference to a given straight
line in the same plane, be divided into two
Saccheri’s quadrilateral
classes — into cutting and non-cutting. The

amt 60 (3) 3
 E G H C Riemann and Klein
F
The next example of what we could now call a
‘non-euclidean’ geometry was given by
D Riemann. A lecture he gave which was
D
A published in 1868, two years after his death,
speaks of a ‘spherical’ geometry in which every
F line through a point P not on a line AB meets
B the line AB. Here, no parallels are possible.
H G E
Also, in 1868, Eugenio Beltrami wrote a paper
AD is the perpendicular from A to BC. in which he puts forward a model called a
AE is perpendicular to AD. ‘pseudo-sphere’. The importance of this model
Within the angle EAD, some lines (such as AF) will is that it gave an example of the first four
meet BC. Assume that AE is not the only line which postulates holding but not the fifth. From this,
does not meet BC, so let AG be another such line. it can be seen that non-euclidean geometry is
AF is a cutting line and AG is a non-cutting line. just as consistent as euclidean geometry.
There must be a boundary between cutting and non- In 1871, Klein completed the ideas of non-
cutting lines and we may take AH as this boundary. euclidean geometry and gave the solid
underpinnings to the subject. He shows that
there are essentially three types of geometry:
Part of Lobachevsky’s calculation.
• that proposed by Bolyai and
Lobachevsky, where straight lines have
two infinitely distant points,
boundary lines of the one and the other class • the Riemann ‘spherical’ geometry, where
of those lines will be called parallel to the lines have no infinitely distant points,
given line. and
• Euclidean geometry, where for each line
From this, Lobachevsky’s geometry has a there are two coincident infinitely
new fifth postulate, that is: distant points.

There exist two lines parallel to a given line

through a given point not on the line.

Clearly, this is not equivalent to Euclid’s

geometry. Lobachevsky went on to develop
many trigonometric identities for triangles
which held in this geometry, showing that as
the triangle becomes small the identities tend
to the usual trigonometric identities.
Pseudosphere

Reference
Eves, H. (1972). A Survey of Geometry. Allyn and Bacon.

Daniel Marshall
Wayville, SA
[email protected]

Paul Scott
Felix Klein Georg Riemann Wattle Park, SA
(1849–1925) (1826–1866) [email protected]

4 amt 60 (3)
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