Dinostratus
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Dinostratus (; c. 390 – c. 320 BCE) was a Greek mathematician and geometer, and the brother of Menaechmus. He is known for using the quadratrix to solve the problem of squaring the circle.
Key facts
- Scientist.name
- Dinostratus
- Scientist.birth_date
- c. 390 BCE
- Scientist.death_date
- c. 320 BCE
- Scientist.fields
- Mathematics
- Scientist.known_for
- Quadratrix of DinostratusDinostratus' theorem
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Gender
- male
- Place of birth
- Greece
- Sibling
- Menaechmus
- Occupation
- astronomer
- Languages spoken
- Ancient Greek
- Native language
- Ancient Greek
- Student of
- Eudoxus of Cnidus
- Field of work
- geometry
Show 7 more facts
- described by source
- Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary
- date of birth
- 0390-00-00
- date of death
- 0320-00-00
- time period
- classical antiquity
- name in native language
- Δεινόστρατος
- writing language
- Ancient Greek
- birth name
- Δεινόστρατος
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~1 min read
Encyclopedic overview
4 sectionsContents
- Life and work
- Citations and footnotes
- References
- External links
Dinostratus (; c. 390 – c. 320 BCE) was a Greek mathematician and geometer, and the brother of Menaechmus. He is known for using the quadratrix to solve the problem of squaring the circle.
== Life and work == Dinostratus' chief contribution to mathematics was his solution to the problem of squaring the circle. To solve this problem, Dinostratus made use of the trisectrix of Hippias, for which he proved a special property (Dinostratus' theorem) that allowed him the squaring of the circle. Due to his work the trisectrix later became known as the quadratrix of Dinostratus as well. Although Dinostratus solved the problem of squaring the circle, he did not do so using ruler and compass alone, and so it was clear to the Greeks that his solution violated the foundational principles of their mathematics. Over 2,200 years later Ferdinand von Lindemann would prove that it is impossible to square a circle using straight edge and compass alone.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Dinostratus” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.