c. 460-c. 400 B.C.

Greek Mathematician

Rarely does the personality of a mathematician or scientist play a significant role in his biography, but Hippias was so widely known as a braggart that he can hardly be mentioned without making note of this fact. Yet he also seems to have had cause for boasting, being a man knowledgeable in a wide variety of areas, including several with a mathematical application. In this regard it is notable that he may have developed the quadratix as a means of doubling the cube, trisecting angles, and squaring the circle nearly a century before Dinostratus (c. 390-c. 320 B.C.) used it for the latter purpose.

From Elis on the Greek mainland, Hippias made his living as a traveling philosopher, perhaps a member of the Sophists. Among the areas on which he lectured were poetry, grammar, history, politics, and archaeology...