Little is known of Euclid's personality or beliefs other than he was completely devoted to the study of mathematics and was considered a wise, patient, and kind teacher. His acknowledgment that he derives most of the knowledge in the
Elements from his predecessors reveals Euclid's sense of fair play and respect for the mathematicians who came before him.
Perhaps because of civic unrest or at the request of Ptolemy I, Euclid eventually traveled to Alexandria, Egypt, around 322 B.C. and established a famous school of mathematics. Built by Alexander the Great between two arms of the Nile River, Alexandria became an intellectual center of education and learning unparalleled in the Hellenistic Age. Not long after Euclid established his school, Ptolemy founded a museum that became the first national university. It included the most comprehensive library in the ancient world, housing more than 600,000 "books," actually papyrus rolls. Euclid was the museum's first teacher of mathematics.
When it came to mathematics, however, Euclid was unyielding in his insistence on the careful study of the discipline and its worth. According to one story, Ptolemy was observing one of Euclid's geometry classes and, afterwards, asked Euclid if there was a "shorter road to its mastery." Euclid replied, "There is no royal road to geometry." Another story relates the tale of a student who, upon learning a new proposition asked his master ".
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