This text provides an unusual approach to the teaching and learning of geometry. Placing the subject in a wide general context Heilbron combines history and science. A cross-cultural examination of topics are given in this book. It covers classical plane geometry, emphasizing the methods of Euclid but also drawing on the different and often effective approaches of the Chinese and Indians. Applications as well as theories are considered, and the book offers a wide range of problems, solutions, and illustrations. A chapter on trigonometry is included, and the material covered prepares the way for study of solid geometry and conic sections.