Summary The records left behind by the Egyptians and the Babylonians offer strong evidence of a culture rich in mathematics and its practical applications. These records represented a foundation from which the ancient Greeks were to develop much more advanced notions about mathematics. This period of Greek history was indeed a"golden era" of progress. The culmination of these efforts are in the marvelously logical mathematical system found in Euclid's Elements and in the profound works of Archimedes who was clearly hundreds of years ahead of his time.