Aristaeus the Elder was a Greek

Greeks

The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

 mathematician

Mathematician

A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....

 who worked on conic sections. He was a contemporary of Euclid

Euclid

Euclid , fl. 300 BC, also known as Euclid of Alexandria, was a Greek mathematician, often referred to as the "Father of Geometry". He was active in Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy I...

, though probably older. We know practically nothing of his life except that the mathematician Pappus of Alexandria

Pappus of Alexandria

Pappus of Alexandria was one of the last great Greek mathematicians of Antiquity, known for his Synagoge or Collection , and for Pappus's Theorem in projective geometry...

 refers to him as Aristaeus the Elder which presumably means that Pappus was aware of another later mathematician also named Aristaeus. Pappus gave Aristaeus great credit for a work entitled Five Books concerning Solid Loci which was used by Pappus but has been lost. He may have also authored the book Concerning the Comparison of Five Regular Solids. This book has also been lost; we know of it through a reference by the Greek mathematician Hypsicles

Hypsicles

This article is about Hypsicles of Alexandria. For the historian, see Hyspicrates .Hypsicles was an ancient Greek mathematician and astronomer known for authoring On Ascensions and the spurious Book XIV of Euclid's Elements.- Life and work :Although little is known about the life of Hypsicles,...

.