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Definitions 15 through 19

Def. 15. A number is said to multiply a number when that which is multiplied is added to itself as many times as there are units in the other.

Def. 16. And, when two numbers having multiplied one another make some number, the number so produced be called plane, and its sides are the numbers which have multiplied one another.

Def. 17. And, when three numbers having multiplied one another make some number, the number so produced be called solid, and its sides are the numbers which have multiplied one another.

Def. 18. A square number is equal multiplied by equal, or a number which is contained by two equal numbers.

Def. 19. And a cube is equal multiplied by equal and again by equal, or a number which is contained by three equal numbers.

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Notice that Euclid doesn't define addition and subtraction. Those operations are assumed to be understood. But multiplication and proportion are defined, proportion in VII.Def.20. Definition 15 defines multiplication in terms of addition as a kind of composition. For instance, if 3 is multiplied by 6, then since 6 is 1+1+1+1+1+1, therefore, 3 multiplied by 6 is 3+3+3+3+3+3. The first proposition on multiplication is VII.16 which says multiplication is commutative. For our example, that would say 3 multiplied by 6 is 6 multiplied by 3, which is 6+6+6.

#### Figurate numbers

| Although Euclid never displays numbers except as lines, the Pythagoreans before him evidently did, that is, they displayed numbers as figures. The figures were in various shapes, such as triangles, squares, and so forth. Definitions 16 through 19 deal with figurate numbers, but without the figures. Euclid defines a plane number as a number which is the product of two numbers. Remember that for Euclid, 1 is the unit, not a number, so prime numbers are not plane numbers, but every composite number can be a plane number in at least one way. |
A plane number could be displayed as a rectangular configuration of dots. Alternatively, these "rectangular numbers" could be displayed as a configuration of squares. But most of the other figurate numbers, such as triangular numbers, could only easily be displayed by dots.
Perhaps for the Pythagoreans, the most important figures were the triangular numbers: 3, 6, especially 10, 15, 21, etc. Each could be formed from the previous by adding a new row one unit longer. So, for instance, 10 = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4. For some reason, Euclid doesn't mention triangular numbers. Indeed, he doesn't address sums of arithmetic progressions at all, a subject of interest in many ancient cultures. Euclid does give the sum of a geometric progression, that is, a continued proportion, in proposition IX.35. |
Definition 18 defines solid numbers. For example, if 18 is presented as 3 times 3 times 2, then it is given as a solid number with three sides 3, 3, and 2. Solid numbers can be represented as a configuration of dots or cubes in three dimensions. Squares and cubes are are described as certain symmetric plane and solid numbers. Of course, some numbers, such as 64, can be simultaneously squares and cubes.

Book VII Introduction - Definitions 11 through 14 - Definitions 20 and 21.

© 1997
D.E.Joyce
Clark University