A Journey Through the Wonders of Plane Geometry - Hardcover

by Hans Humenberger Alfred S. Posamentier (Author)

Geometry is often seen as one of the most beautiful aspects of mathematics. This beauty is probably a result of the fact that one can 'see' this aspect of mathematics. Most people are exposed to the very basic elements of geometry throughout their schooling, concentrated in the secondary school curriculum. High schools in the United States offer one year of concentrated geometry teaching, allowing students to observe how a mathematician functions, since everything that is accepted beyond the basic axioms must be proved. However, as the course is only one year long, a great amount of geometry remains to be exposed to the general audience. That is the challenge of this book, wherein we will present a plethora of amazing geometric relationships.We begin with the special relationship of the Golden Ratio, before considering unexpected concurrencies and collinearities. Next, we present some surprising results that arise when squares and similar triangles are placed on triangle sides, followed by a discussion of concyclic points and the relationship between circles and various linear figures. Moving on to more advanced aspects of linear geometry, we consider the geometric wonders of polygons. Finally, we address geometric surprises and fallacies, before concluding with a chapter on the useful concept of homothety, which is not included in the American year-long course in geometry.