Excerpt from Practical Geometry: For Builders and Architects The Science of Geometry, as its name suggests, is of great antiquity. The name, Geometry, is derived from two Greek roots, Ge the Earth, and Metron a measure, and it is clear that In the earliest period Of which we have any record Of the use of Geometry, it was used for Earth measurement, or Land-surveying, as we should now term it According to Greek historians Geometry originated in Egypt as early as 600 b.c., and was used for the measurement of land, or for readjusting the boundaries of the various provinces which had been inundated by the overflow of the Nile. Thales, who lived in Egypt from 639 b.c. To 548 b.c., taught his fellow-countrymen how to calculate the height of an Obelisk by measuring the length of its shadow. Pythagoras, Archimedes, and Euclid, carried on the study of certain branches of the Science, and much Of our more practical work in Geometry to-day is based upon the principles which they established in a somewhat abstract manner. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.