Archimedes

Archimedes was a Greek Mathematician, Physicist, Engineer, Inventor, and also an Astronomer. He was an expert in statics, hydrostatics, and in the principle of the lever. He invented innovative machines, siege machines, compound pulleys, screw pumps, and many more things. He has derived so many geometrical theorems and many theories of modern calculus. Because of him, we know about the volume and surface area of a sphere, the area of a circle. He also calculated the area under the arc and area under a parabola, and he has applied the ‘method of exhaustion’. He also gave the approximate value of pi. He even said how to express huge numbers. He derived the formulae for the volumes of surfaces of revolution.

Table of Contents

• Archimedes Life History
• Archimedes Education
• Archimedes Books
• Contributions of Archimedes in Mathematics
• Realtime usage of Archimedes Theories:
• Archimedes Success Stories
• Interesting facts about Archimedes
• Awards and Rewards under the name of Archimedes
• Other Mathematicians Talking about Archimedes
• Quotes By Archimedes
• FAQ about Archimedes
• Reference

Archimedes Life History

Here is the Life History of Archimedes:

Archimedes was born in Syracuse (Greece)in 287 B.C. His father, Mr Phidias, was an astronomer. At the age of 75, he died in Syracuse, in the same place where he was born.
It is said that when Archimedes was working on a mathematical diagram. At that time when he was almost at the end of the work, a soldier asked him to come with him to meet general. He refused to go with him at that time as he was busy working and was about to complete his work. He said he has to complete his work first. On this, the soldier got angry and killed him by slashing his head with his sword.

Archimedes Education

Details about Archimedes Education:

Archimedes got his formal education from a school that was established by the Euclid ( A great Greek mathematician ) in Alexandria, Egypt. His Major in the schooling was Maths and Physics.

Archimedes Books

Here is the list of few of the books that are written by Archimedes:

1. The Works of Archimedes.
2. The Sand Reckoner.
3. Archimedes Palimpsest.
4. On the Sphere and Cylinder.
5. Measurement of a Circle.
6. Quadrature of the Parabola.
7. On Floating Bodies.
8. The Method of Mechanical Theorems.
9. On the Equilibrium of Planes.
10. On Spirals.
11. Geometrical solutions derived from mechanics.
12. Oeuvres d’Archimède.
13. S.Net.
14. Opera Omnia, cum commentariis Eutocii.
15. Pi: Calculated to 1,000,001 Digits After the Decimal Point.
16. Archimedes Opera Omnia.
17. The Method of Archimedes, recently discovered by Heiberg.
18. The Life of Pi .
19. The Method of Archimedes, Recently Discovered by Heiberg; a Supplement to the Works of Archimedes, 1897 — Scholar’s Choice Edition.
20. The Arenarius of Archimedes: With a glossary.

Contributions of Archimedes in Mathematics

Archimedes has made a great contribution in the field of Mathematics.
Here is the list of few of the famous works:

1. He has derived so many geometrical theorems
2. He derived the formulae for the volumes of surfaces of revolution.
3. He has contributed in theories of modern calculus.
4. He mentioned the process of expressing huge numbers.
5. He gave details about the volume and surface area of a sphere, the area of a circle.
6. He also gave the approximate value of pi.
7. He was the first to apply the ‘method of exhaustion’.
8. He gave an idea about the area under a parabola.

Realtime usage of Archimedes Theories:

Few usages of Archimedes Theories in Today’s Generation:

1. His theories are used to determining the volume of an object with an irregular shape.
2. The Archimedes’ screw is still used to drive solids and liquids like coal and grain.
3. His Ship designs are still used to design the present warships.
4. His Eureka theory is still used in many fields like in Making of ships, In NASA and other places.

Archimedes Success Stories

Here are few Interesting and Inspiring Stories of Archimedes:

King Hiero II called Archimedes to investigate crown if it is made of pure gold or it is mixed with silver. Archimedes, While taking a bath, noticed something that changed the world. He noticed that the amount of water overflowing from the bathtub was equivalent to the portion of his body that was being immersed. He then got the idea that the same theory can be applied to the crown, and he could weigh both gold and silver in water and find their proportion.

King Hiero II had to design a warship, so he has assigned it to Archimedes. With his talent, he could able to design the ship. He designed the ship in such a way that the ship was able to transport almost 1000 people in it, Including supplies. This ship was fully equipped and fully functional and was ready to face the war of any kind.

An exciting and legendary story regarding Archimedes is that he used a massive collection of mirrors to burn the Roman ships attacking Syracuse.

Interesting facts about Archimedes

Few of the Interesting Facts about Archimedes:

1. Archimedes was also interested in poetry, arts, and music, along with arithmetic and science,
2. Conon of Samos and Eratosthenes of Cyrene two of the greatest scholars and mathematicians who were his mentors.
3. He loved to study the topics of catoptrics.
4. He used to develop military weapons that were used in wars.
5. He used to formulate war techniques.
6. “Archimedes screw” is used for irrigation purposes which are named under him.

Awards and Rewards under the name of Archimedes

List of Few of the Awards and Rewards are given under the name of Archimedes:

1. Archimedes was also interested in poetry, arts, and music, along with arithmetic and science,
2. Conon of Samos and Eratosthenes of Cyrene two of the greatest scholars and mathematicians who were his mentors.
3. He loved to study the topics of catoptrics.
4. He used to develop military weapons that were used in wars.
5. He used to formulate war techniques.
6. “Archimedes screw” is used for irrigation purposes which are named under him.

Other Mathematicians Talking about Archimedes

This is what other mathematicians said about Archimedes.

Galileo praised Archimedes by mentioning him as “superhuman“.

There are many other Mathematician who are also Physicist, Engineer, Inventor, and also an Astronomer like him. Few of them are Leonhard Euler, Carl Friedrich Gauss, Archimedes, Pierre-Simon Laplace, Daniel Bernoulli. Just like him they too were great in different fields.

Quotes By Archimedes

Here are the few famous Quotations by Archimedes:

Eureka! — I have found it!

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

Give me a place to stand, and I will move the earth.

Mathematics reveals its secrets only to those who approach it with pure love, for its beauty.

“Don’t disturb my circles!”

FAQ about Archimedes

What did Archimedes discover?

Archimedes invented hydrostatics the sciences of mechanics. He also discovered the laws of pulleys and levers. He found out the technique by using small forces one can move heavy objects. He found the centre of gravity.

What is Archimedes famous?

Archimedes is famous for many of his inventions and discoveries like the discovery of the centre of gravity, laws of pulleys and levers, the relationship between the volume, the surface of a sphere and its circumscribing cylinder. He is famous for the Archimedes Principle.

What does Archimedes mean?

Archimedes is the name of Greek Mathematician.

How did Archimedes discover pi?

Yes, Archimedes of Syracuse was the first to do the calculations on π.

Who is the father of mathematics?

The Great Greek Mathematics, Physicist and Astronomer Named
Archimedes is considered as the Father Of Mathematics.

What is the Archimedes Principle in simple terms?

Archimedes’ principle states that a matter or a body experiences an apparent loss in weight. This loss in weight is equal to the weight of the liquid displaced by the dipped part of the matter. This happens when the matter is partially or entirely immersed in a liquid.

Reference

For More Details about this Greek Mathematicians and his works in Math, Physics and other related fields, visit the Official Drexel University Website.