Archimedes
Archimedes is believed to have been born in 287 B.C. in Syracuse, Sicily, and died in 212 B.C. His father was Phidias, who was an astronomer. We would know more about his life if his biography, written by his friend Hercleide, had not been lost (Archimedes of Syracuse. groups). The information we have about Archimedes’ life comes from the writings of Plutarch, Livy, and others, as well as from the prefaces of Archimedes’ works. We know from the writings of Plutarch that he received part of his education at Euclid’s School in Alexandria, Egypt. There he was taught internal calculus, which included the study of volume. Archimedes figured out that the volume of a sphere is two-thirds the volume of a cylinder that circumscribes the sphere (Archimedes’ Life. norfacad). While studying in Egypt, he also invented the Archimedes’ screw. This is a pump that, when turned, carries water from a lower level to an upper level (Archimedes of Syracuse. math). This pump is still used in many parts of the world and probably similar in operation to hydroelectric turbines that generate electricity today. Along with being a famous physicist, Archimedes is considered to be one of the three greatest mathematicians of all time
regular polygons having 96 sides (Archimedes of Syracuse. math). He also showed he could approximate square roots accurately. At King Hieron’s request, Archimedes invented several machines for engines of war, in which he applied his knowledge of physics. These engines of war were appreciated by the people of his time in a way that theoretical mathematics was not. Archimedes considered these to be amusements in geometry. Some of these machines include the catapult, the compound pulley, and the burning mirror (Archimedes of Syracuse. groups). Syracuse was attacked by the Romans under the command of Marcellus. In preparation of this attack, Archimedes had set up catapults, which were capable of propelling objects weighing over 500 pounds. If that failed to do enough damage to the ships, they were then faced with poles that went over the city walls and were used for dropping stones onto them. Large grappling hooks that were attached to levers were also devised that lifted ships out of the water and dropped them onto large rocks jutting out near the base of the wall. Sometimes ships were lifted to great height into the air and swung back and forth and kept swinging until all the crew was thrown out, and then dropped. During another assault on Syracuse, Archimedes had soldiers use specially shaped and shined shields to focus sunlight onto the sails to set them afire. But Marcellus’s men also attacked from the inland border, while the city of Syracuse was celebrating about the successful defense of the seaside attack. Not being fully aware that the Romans had taken over the city, a Roman soldier came upon Archimedes while he was drawing geometric figures in the dust on the floor while working on a problem. This soldier commanded him to follow him to Marcellus. Archimedes refused to do so and responded with, “Don’t disturb my circles!”, because he had not yet finished the problem. The soldier then got angry with Archimedes and killed him by running his sword through Archimedes’ body (Archimedes. scidiv). Archimedes had requested that a sphere, contained in the smallest possible cylinder and inscribed with the ratio of the cylinder’s vol
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Approximate Word count = 1479
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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