Kuma: I have purchased the 13 books of Euclid's Elements. I wanted to teach my two sons geometry from reading this book. Do you think that is possible or do I "need" a textbook? This leads me to my second question does Harold Jacob's Elementary Algebra and Geometry distinguish between the classical and the modern? Finally does anyone know of a "living book" for classical algebra?
Debbie G.: A few other suggestions for book resources.
Harold Jacobs, author of the math texts mentioned above: Mary Leggewie kindly informed me of your questions concerning teaching geometry to your two sons. Euclid's Elements is a wonderful resource. I assume that you purchased the Dover edition with the helpful and interesting commentary by Thomas Heath.
I believe most mathematicians would be reluctant to try to teach their children geometry directly from Euclid since the Elements were not intended for children. Did you know that when the Elements was taught at the university level long ago, the course often stopped with Book 5?
I see that one of the correspondents mentions James Nickel's book, Mathematics: Is God Silent? I have a copy of this book and highly recommend it to you. Nickel is a good writer and the book is a refreshing treatment of mathematics from a Christian point of view.
The third edition of my geometry book came out last year. The first 15 chapters deal with Euclidean geometry as well as coordinate geometry and the 16th chapter is an introduction to the non-Euclidean geometries. There is an accompanying teacher's guide with all of the solutions. I am always happy to hear from homeschoolers and their parents and am glad to be of help along the way.
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