By Gus Koumousidis & Alex Brion

 Little is known about Menelaus’s childhood or background.  He was born in 70 CE and died in 140 CE.  He was a Greek astronomer and mathematician who spent most of his youth in Alexandria, but lived most of his life in Rome.  Ptolemy recorded Menelaus’s observations in the year 98.  Menelaus wrote 3 books and the third one was about spherical trigonometry and his famous theorem.  His other works have never been found or have never been translated.

 Menelaus theorem is a proof which shows the ratios of the lengths of the sides of a triangle with a line extending as a transversal.  Menelaus theorem goes hand in hand with Ceva’s theorem.  Menelaus’s theorem shows the answer coming out to 1, but with the change of direction it will come out to -1.

A B C M E N F X

A B C M E N F X Negative Direction: NC = - CN