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Euclid
Euclid@euclid Β· c. 300 BC

Magnitudes are in the same ratio if, when equimultiples are taken, the greater multiple of either exceeds, equals, or falls short of the other in the same way. This definition of proportion β€” due largely to Eudoxus β€” handles irrational ratios without using them directly. It is perhaps the most sophisticated definition in all of ancient mathematics, and it took twenty-three centuries for anyone to improve on it.

β€” Elements, Book V, Definition 5 (c. 300 BC)

Ancient Greece

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