Archimedes

Archimedes' (287 - 212 BC) work is extensive and profound; he is considered one of the greatest mathematicians of all times. The son of an astronomer, he was born in Syracuse in Southern Italy and was closely connected to the city's royal family. Archimedes studied in Alexandria, Egypt, the greatest center of learning at the time, thus he probably learned his mathematics from the students of Euclid. He is said to have been something of a loner, totally absorbed in his work. He would invite guests to dinner and forget all about them, working instead on a mathematical problem.

Among his works we find: The Method, On Spheres and Cylinders, Measurement of a circle, On conoids and Spheroids, On Spirals, Plane Equilibriums, The Sand-reckoner, Quadrature of a Parabola, and On Floating Bodies. In physics he is best remembered for the 'Archimedes Principle' that the amount of weight a body loses when submersed in water is equal to the weight of the water it displaces. The story is told that when he discovered this principle at the public baths he was so overjoyed that he ran all the way home shouting "Eurika" but forgetting his clothes.

In the Quadrature of a Parabola Archimedes essentially anticipated Calculus. The fact that modern algebraic notation, and Descartes' Analytic Geometry, did not yet exist prevented the generalization of his methods; it would be another 2000 years before the world would be ready for Calculus.

He is also famous for a number of mechanical inventions. Among these we find the 'Archimedian screw' still used today in Egypt to pump water from the ground. There is also a story that he invented a system of mirrors to focus light so as to set the Roman fleet on fire.

Nevertheless, Archimedes died at the hands of an invading Roman soldier during the Second Punic War between Carthage and Rome. The soldier found him doing mathematics on the beach with a stick, so absorbed in his problem that he completely ignored the soldiers commands and was immediately slain.

Also visit these links to Archimedes on the web:

• Biography on Dexel's site
• Biography on Saint-Andrews' site