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Archimedes

Archimedes (287-212 BC).

Table of Contents

  • 1 Ideas
  • 2 Biography
  • 3 Major Works of Archimedes
    • 3.1 Related:
  • 4 Videos
  • 5 Related Products
    • 5.1 Archimedes and the Door of Science (Living History Library)
    • 5.2 The Works of Archimedes (Dover Books on Mathematics)
    • 5.3 Archimedes: the Master of Numbers (English Subtitled)
    • 5.4 The Works of Archimedes: Translation and Commentary
    • 5.5 Learning Resources Jumbo Archimedes Screw (Single)
    • 5.6 The Archimedes Codex: How a Medieval Prayer Book Is Revealing the True Genius of Antiquity's Greatest Scientist
    • 5.7 Computing
    • 5.8 NOVA - Infinite Secrets: The Genius of Archimedes
    • 5.9 The Works of Archimedes
    • 5.10 Archimedes: The Man Who Invented The Death Ray

Ideas

– Convergence methods, in which a curvilinear figure is bounded inside and out by similar rectilinear figures, can approximate the area of the curved figure to any degree of accuracy: Using convergence methods, the value of pi is found to be greater than 3 10/71 and less than 3 1/7.

– Objects have a center of gravity and for mathematical purposes can be treated as if they wre composed of parallel lines (plane figures) or parallel planes (solid figures).

– Mechanical methods can suggest the truth of mathematical propositions, which must then be rigorously proven by mathematical methods.

– Numbers of any size can be expressed using a suitable system of notation.

– Magnitudes cannot be infinitely small.

Biography

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, excelling especially at computing areas and volumes using the method of exhaustion. 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 was engraved on his tombstone. In fact, it is often said that Archimedes would have invented calculus if the Greeks had only possessed a more tractable mathematical notation.

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 have 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.

Major Works of Archimedes

– On the Sphere and the Cylinder
– On the Measurement of the Circle
– On the Equilibrium of Planes
– On Floating Bodies
– On the Method of Mechanical Theorems
– The Sandreckoner

Related:

  • metalanguage
  • constructivism
  • Jules Henri Poincare
  • Robin George Collingwood
  • Galileo Galilei

  • Videos

  • Related Products

     
    Archimedes and the Door of Science (Living History Library)

    Archimedes and the Door of Science (Living History Library)

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    • English (Publication Language)
    • 160 Pages - 08/01/1995 (Publication Date) - Bethlehem Books (Publisher)
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    The Works of Archimedes (Dover Books on Mathematics)

    The Works of Archimedes (Dover Books on Mathematics)

    • Archimedes (Author)
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    • 576 Pages - 04/16/2002 (Publication Date) - Dover Publications (Publisher)
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    Archimedes: the Master of Numbers (English Subtitled)
    2 Reviews

    Archimedes: the Master of Numbers (English Subtitled)

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    The Works of Archimedes: Translation and Commentary

    The Works of Archimedes: Translation and Commentary

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    Learning Resources Jumbo Archimedes Screw (Single)

    Learning Resources Jumbo Archimedes Screw (Single)

    • A hands-on introduction to the concept of cause and effect
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    The Archimedes Codex: How a Medieval Prayer Book Is Revealing the True Genius of Antiquity's Greatest Scientist

    The Archimedes Codex: How a Medieval Prayer Book Is Revealing the True Genius of Antiquity's Greatest Scientist

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    Computing

    Computing

    • Amazon Prime Video (Video on Demand)
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    • English (Subtitle)
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    NOVA - Infinite Secrets: The Genius of Archimedes

    NOVA - Infinite Secrets: The Genius of Archimedes

    • Audience Rating: Unrated (Not Rated)
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    The Works of Archimedes

    The Works of Archimedes

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    Archimedes: The Man Who Invented The Death Ray

    Archimedes: The Man Who Invented The Death Ray

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  • Last update 2020-06-17. Price and product availability may change.

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