"Euclid Alone Has Looked on Beauty Bare" and "The Euclidean Domain" Reflections

Euclid of Alexandria, aka the 'Father of Geometry', has been given the honour of being one of the greatest mathematical thinkers of all time, due to his contributions to geometry and number theory. Not only are all 13 volumes of Euclid’s Elements an astounding and comprehensive explanation of mathematical ideas at that time, they also provided some source of inspiration to other greats such as Sir Isaac Newton, Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, Bertrand Russel, and Ada Lovelace! Despite the fact that there is quite little known about Euclid himself, his works have paved the way for so many different topics in mathematics. Some of his most popular work include the 5 axioms of geometry, a prime number theory, a perfect number theory, and defining the greatest common divisor. 

 In Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poem, ‘Euclid Alone has Looked on Beauty Bare’, we are able to pick up on her reverence of Euclid from the title alone. The line ‘Let all who prate of Beauty hold their peace’ delightfully suggests that no other mathematician or thinker can match the level that Euclid was at in his ability to comprehend, synthesize, and produce new ideas. This reminds me a lot of the Dunning-Kruger Effect, which Millay appears to suggest that all others are around Mount Stupid, while Euclid has reached the point of Beauty expert/guru. Millay doesn’t seem to reject the fact that there have been prominent thinkers after Euclid, which is apparent in the line ‘Fortunate they // Who, though once only and then but far away, // Have heard her massive sandal set on stone’. However, her choice of wording indicates that other mathematicians have not, and will not ever, have had the intimate proximity to Beauty that Euclid did.

The tone of David Kramer’s response parody, 'The Euclidean Domain', is kindhearted and amusingly defensive. It’s quite humbling that Kramer gives credit to all the thinkers that precede and follow Euclid, in the lines ‘Has no one else of her seen hide or hair? // Nor heard her massive sandal set on stone? // Nor spoken with her on the telephone?’ This disputes Euclid’s pedestal, portraying him not as overwhelming as he appears in Millay’s poem. In fact, Kramer also writes that ‘Proud poets… // … as you sang praise … // Your mouth became the orifice of idiocy!’ which disputes Millay’s intention as well. There are so many mathematicians and thinkers that have brought life to Euclid’s works and inspired different directions that have brought us to the technological revolution that we live in today; and there are certainly a large amount of mathematicians that have contributed to branches of Mathematics that are independent to Euclid's work. Euclid is great because he was able to inspire so many people, but that doesn’t mean that there is a finite amount of inspiration or genius in the world. While Millay seems to suggest that the impact Euclid’s work had on some of the greatest scientists contests their progress, Kramer takes the logical stance that ‘that’s not how teaching works!’