The Meaning of Early Medieval Geometry: From Euclid and Surveyors' Manuals to Christian Philosophy
Evgeny A. Zaitsev
A peculiarity of early medieval geometrical texts was that alongside Euclid's Elements they transmitted remnants the corpus Roman land surveyors and metaphysical digressions extraneous to geometry proper. Rather than dismissing these additions as irrelevant, this essay attempts elucidate cultural grounds for indiscriminate mixture three disciplines -- geometry, surveying, metaphysics. Inquiry into broader context culture suggests neither nor surveying treated an independent discipline. Texts on were studied mainly because thought provide good opportunities enlarging scope meditation spiritual subjects. Accordingly, main concern is show how Christian symbolism influenced both composition study texts. The based a wide range sources: treatises pictorial representations Creation, philosophical literature in which used arguments about ontological doctrines.
Isis