Geometry

Michel Serres is a Professor in the History of Science at Stanford University and a member of the Académie Française. A renowned and popular philosopher, he is a prize-winning author of essays and books, such as The Five Senses, Rome and Statues. Randolph Burks is a philosopher specializing in phenomenology and philosophies of the body and nature. He has translated several works by Michel Serres, including Biogea, Variations on the Body and The Hermaphrodite (forthcoming) and the other two titles in the 'Foundations' series.

The origins of geometry
The Universal: One of its First Constructions
The Differences: Chaos in the History of Science
Synthesis: The Science of History

Part One: Customs and Laws
1. First in History: Anaximander
Spaces without Exclusion: Juridical Origins
2. First in the rite: The royal victim
Spaces of Exclusion: Political Origins
3. First in dialectic: The interlocutor
Spaces of Exclusion: Discursive Origins
4.The Point at Noon
Part Two: Nature
5.First in History: Thales
From the pyramid to the tetrahedron: The optical origin
From Diogenes to Thales: The ethical origin
From the sun to the earth: The astronomical origin
6. First in philosophy: The ignorant slave boy
From Pythagoras to Zeno: The algorithmic origin
7. First in logic: The element
The automatic origin and Return to sociopolitical origins
Part three: Conclusion
8. The Measurement of the Earth: Herodotus

Notes