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The most influential textbook ever written?

Melvyn Bragg and Professor Marcus du Sautoy discuss Euclid's Elements, a mathematical textbook attributed to Euclid and in use from its appearance in Alexandria, Egypt around 300 BC until modern times, dealing with geometry and number theory. Einstein had a copy as a child, which he treasured, later saying: "If Euclid failed to kindle your youthful enthusiasm, then you were not born to be a scientific thinker."

First broadcast on In Our Time, 28 April 2016.

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2 minutes

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