Website to find Euclid’s Elements
http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/java/elements/elements.html
Find the Table of Contents link
Scroll down past the Introduction to the last line of text before “the credits.” Open the
Table of Contents.
Explore the site a bit
Once in the Table of Contents, explore
 Introduction
 Using the Geometry Applet
 A quick trip through The Elements (Book I only)
Look at Book I
Return to the Table of Contents, scroll down just under the heading, Euclid’s Elements, and
open Book I.
 Read through the Guide to Book I
 Return to the Book I page and open the propositions
 Read through the first five.

Postulates
Common Notions
Postulate 1.
To draw a straight line from any
point to
any point.
Common notion 1.
Things which equal the same
thing also equal
one another.
Postulate 2
To produce a finite straight line
continuously in a straight line.
Common notion 2.
If equals are added to equals,
then the wholes
are equal.
Common notion 3.
If equals are subtracted from
equals, then the
remainders are equal.
Postulate 3.
To describe a circle with any
center and
radius.
Postulate 4.
That all right angles equal one
another.
Common notion 4.
Things which coincide with one
another equal
one another.
Postulate 5.
Given a line and a point not on
Common notion 5.
The whole is greater than the
the line there exists exactly one
line through the point and parallel
to the given line.
part.