surface: Quick Facts

Written and fact-checked by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Photos

example of straight line not being shortest distance between two points

See All Images →

Topics

algebraic surface curvature minimal surface Steiner surface isobaric surface geopotential surface Riemann surface cylinder ellipsoid cone foundations of mathematics probability and statistics numerals and numeral systems matrix function fractal graph derivative algorithm vector

Key People

Portrait of Archimedes by Giuseppe Nogari shows an elderly man with white hair and beard, holding a compass, gazing downward, set against a dark background.

Archimedes

Greek mathematician and inventor

Gaspard Monge, detail of an oil painting by Jean Naigeon, 1811; in the Museum of Fine Arts, Beaune, France.

Gaspard Monge, count de Péluse

French mathematician and public official

default image

Joseph Bertrand

French mathematician and educator

default image

Eugenio Beltrami

Italian mathematician