Zeno of Sidon

Zeno of Sidon

Born: about 150 BC in Sidon (now Saida in Lebanon)
Died: about 70 BC in Athens, Greece

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Zeno of Sidon made deep criticisms of Euclid. For example he claimed that Euclid's first proposition assumes that two straight lines can intersect in at most one point but Euclid does not have this as an axiom.

He attacked Euclid's proof of the equality of right angles on the grounds that it presupposes the existence of a right angle. Some have suggested that these claims give Zeno of Sidon some justification to be considered as having first considered the possibility of non-Euclidean geometry.

Zeno also discussed the principle of induction.

References:

  1. Dictionary of Scientific Biography
  2. G Vlastos, Zeno of Sidon as a Critic of Euclid, The Clasical Tradition : Literary and Historical Studies in Honor of Harry Caplan (New York, 1966), 148-159.
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JOC/EFR February 1996