E. G. Ziegenbalg’s Danish Translation of Euclid’s Elements

As Latin ceased to be the language of mathematical discourse in early modern Europe, classic texts needed to be translated into the various vernacular languages. For instance, the first translation of Euclid’s Elements into the Danish language appeared in 1744^[1] under the title Euclidis elementa geometriæ, det er, Første Grund til Geometrien, i det danske Sprog oversat (Euclid’s Elements of Geometry, That is, the Foundation of Geometry, Translated into the Danish Language). This brief article introduces the translator, Ernest Gotlieb Ziegenbalg^[2] (1716–1758), who is likely little-known, not only among the readers of Convergence but perhaps also to historians of Scandinavian science. Additionally, I highlight some notable characteristics of the printed volume as well as of the copy in my library. The book is a beautiful production with a distinctive formatting style aimed at sensibly presenting the material to students learning geometry. As such, the book not only naturally belongs among Convergence’s Mathematical Treasures, but also deserves attention for its pedagogical approach to presenting Euclid’s Elements to students.

Figure 1. The first page of Ziegenbalg’s translation of Euclid’s Elements. All photos of the book in this article show
the author’s personal copy and were taken by Michael Forster Rothbart.