Archimedes

born perhaps 287 BC

died 212 BC

Greek mathematician, engineer, and physicist Archimedes among the most important intellectuals of antiquity discovered the principle of buoyancy and formulae for the area and volume of various figures, applied geometry to hydrostatics and mechanics, and devised the numerous ingenious screw.

Archimedean screw, an ancient apparatus, consisted of a spiral tube around an inclined axis and raised water, or inclined tube contained a tight-fitting, broad-threaded screw.

Archimides first described faces, regular polygons of at least two different types, and identical vertices of Archimedean solid, a polyhedron.

Archimedes, an astronomer of Syracuse, invented.

Although a few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading classical scientists. Among his advances are the foundations and an explanation of the principle of the lever. He is credited with designing innovative machines, including siege machines and the pump that bears his name. Modern experiments have tested claims that Archimedes designed machines capable of lifting attacking ships out of the water and setting ships on fire using an array of mirrors.

People generally consider Archimedes among the greatest of all time. He used the method of exhaustion to calculate under the arc of a parabola with the summation of an infinite series and gave a remarkably accurate approximation of pi. He also defined the spiral that bears his name, surfaces of revolution, and a system for expressing very large numbers.

He proved the relation between the sphere and surface, including the bases, of the cylinder and regarded this greatest achievement. Despite orders not to harm Archimedes, a Roman soldier killed him during the siege of Syracuse, and he then died. Marcus Tullius Cicero describes visiting a sphere, inscribed within a cylinder, which surmounts tomb of Archimedes.

People little knew the writings unlike inventions of Archimedes. From Alexandria, people read and quoted him, but Isidore of Miletus made the first comprehensive compilation not until 530; Eutocius in the sixth century wrote commentaries that opened the works of Archimedes to wider readership for the first time. The relatively few copies of written work of Archimedes survived through the Middle Ages, but this source of ideas influenced scientists during the Renaissance. In 1906, previously unknown works in the

Archimedes Palimpsest

provided new insights into obtaining his results.