SOURCE: "Euclid's Elements" in An Introduction to the Foundations and Fundamental Concepts of Mathematics, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1958, pp. 30-57.

In the following excerpt, Eves and Newsom review the formal nature and significance of Elements, arguing that the work offers the earliest extensive development of the axiomatic method, and that the impact of this form of analysis on the development of mathematics has been tremendous.

The Importance and Formal Nature of Euclid's Elements

The earliest extensively developed example of the use of the axiomatic method that has come down to us is the very remarkable and historically important Elements of Euclid. The production of this treatise is generally regarded as the first great landmark in the history of mathematical thought and organization, and its subsequent influence on scientific thinking can hardly be overstated.

Of Euclid himself, however, disappointingly little is known. It is from Proclus' Commentary on Euclid...