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The Essential Role of Area and Perimeter: From Ancient History to Modern Practicality

Siva
4 min readNov 28, 2024

The concepts of area and perimeter have been around for thousands of years, forming the foundation of geometry and shaping how humans understand and organize space. These simple but powerful ideas have evolved from solving basic survival problems to driving modern-day architecture, engineering, and urban planning.

In this blog, we’ll explore the history of these concepts and their practical applications, from ancient times to their indispensable role in today’s world.

The Origins of Area and Perimeter

1. Ancient Civilizations and the Need to Measure Land

The earliest recorded use of area and perimeter comes from ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, around 3000 BCE.

Why It Was Needed:

  • Farmers needed to measure land for planting crops.
  • Kings and rulers taxed landowners based on the size of their fields.

How They Did It:

  • Using ropes to measure boundaries (perimeter) and divide fields into simple shapes like rectangles or triangles.
  • The Egyptians used the concept of area to measure land lost or gained during the annual flooding…

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