Archimedes of Syracuse (ca. 287-ca. 212 BC) Greek mathematician who flourished in Sicily. He is generally considered to be the greatest mathematician of ancient times. Most of the facts about his life come from a biography about the Roman soldier Marcellus written by the Roman biographer Plutarch. Archimedes performed numerous geometric proofs using the rigid geometric formalism outlined by Euclid (Greek geometer who wrote the Elements, the world’s most definitive text on geometry.
), excelling especially at computing areas and volumes using the METHOD OF EXHAUSTION (a integral-like limiting process to compute the area and volume of 2-D lamina and 3-D solids. ).
2-D Lamina’s: 3-D Solids He was especially proud of his discovery for finding the volume of a sphere, showing that it is two thirds the volume of the smallest cylinder that can contain it. At his request, the figure of a sphere and cylinder as engraved on his tombstone. In fact, it is often said that Archimedes would have invented calculus f the Greeks had only possessed a more tractable mathematical notation.
By inscribing and circumscribing polygons on a circle, for instance, he was able to constrain the value of (pi) between 3 10/71 and 3+1/7. Archimedes was also an outstanding engineer, formulating Archimedes’ principle of buoyancy and the law of the lever. Legend has it that Archimedes discovered his principle of buoyancy, which states that the buoyancy force is equal to the weight of the liquid displaced, while taking a bath, upon which he is supposed to have run naked through the streets of Syracuse shouting “Eureka!” (I have found it).
The Essay on Greek Legacies
Greek Legacies The term legacy is depicted as something that is handed down or remains from previous generation or time. (Dictionary) The Greeks formed a new group of thoughts, which lead to the birth of democracy. Greek scientists such as Euclid, Pythagoras, and Archimedes made new discoveries that changed the course of mathematics. Architecture led to new possibilities. Using the definition of ...
Archimedes is also purported to have invented the Archimedean screw. Some of Archimedes’s geometric proofs were actually motivated by mechanical arguments which led him to the correct answer. During the Roman siege of Syracuse, he is said to hav single-handedly defended the city by constructing lenses to focus the Sun’s light on Roman ships and huge cranes to turn them upside down.
When the Romans finally broke the siege, Archimedes was killed by a Roman soldier after snapping at him “Don’t disturb my circles,” a reference to a geometric figure he had outlined on the sand.
