Why people recommend it
Elements by Euclid is a foundational mathematical treatise written over two thousand years ago that systematically established geometry and formal axiomatic systems. The text frequently surfaces in scholarly conversations about the history of thought. During a December 2025 appearance on the Lex Fridman Podcast, Joel David Hamkins discussed the treatise to contrast the Cantor-Hume principle with what he termed Euclid's principle, noting how Euclid repeatedly applied the concept that the whole is always greater than the part when calculating areas. In an April 2023 interview on the same podcast, Edward Frenkel similarly cited the work to explain the historical roots of formal mathematical systems and axioms, pointing out that Euclidean geometry represents one of the very first formal frameworks developed in human history. Furthermore, in October 2023, Neil deGrasse Tyson spoke on StarTalk Radio about Euclid's monumental textbook, emphasizing that this extraordinary geometric foundation remained actively utilized in education for millennia and cemented the author's legacy as a pioneer in the field of geometry.
Who recommended it
- Joel David Hamkins Discussed
- Vivek Ramaswamy Discussed
- Edward Frenkel Discussed
Joel David Hamkins — 1 mention
“The tension between the Cantor-Hume principle and what could be called Euclid's principle, which is that the whole is always greater than the part, is a principle that Euclid appealed to in the Elements many times when he's calculating area and so on.”
Vivek Ramaswamy — 1 mention
“And you're studying Exodus, but this might be more of a Genesis example.”
Edward Frenkel — 1 mention
“An example would be, so that one of the very first formal systems was the system, was Euclidean geometry developed by Euclid in his famous book "Elements", about 2200 years ago.”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker — 2
“He wrote a textbook on geometry, you know, 2,000 years ago, that was still in use up to a couple hundred years ago. He was an amazing scientist who really founded the field of geometry.”
“It reminds me of basically every story from Genesis not to get biblical here but there's the story of when Moses goes up Mount Sinai to get the Ten Commandments. He tells everyone, 'Okay, I'm gonna go talk to God, I'll be right back', and they're like, 'Cool, great.'”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
- 1984
- Ars magna or The rules of algebra
- Bible
- Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences (On the Shoulders of Giants)
- Love and Math
- Our Mathematical Universe
Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
“um would you guys like to learn about an element that's my nighttime reading ... and then you just you're gonna hear that crucial podcast where I said that I'm gonna buy a book on this [ __ ]”