Euclid’s influence to Archimedes, though indirect, can be observed from the latter’s extraordinary love in solving and proving theorems, especially in geometry. Euclid did not only discover and proved mathematical theorems by logical deduction but he also inspired mathematicians to follow his path as shown by Archimedes. His principles of geometry were accepted as the backbone of mathematics. As we all know, Euclid is called the Father of Geometry. EducationĪrchimedes probably went to Alexandria, Egypt to study mathematics under the disciples of Euclid. This was what Cicero, a Roman orator who served as quaestor (Roman government official) in Sicily, also found in Archimedes’ neglected tomb. He wanted that his tomb be decorated with his favorite mathematical diagram: a sphere enclosed in a cylinder of the same height and same width. Archimedes was buried according to his will. Marcellus, upon knowing this event, was mad and had the soldier executed.
The impatient soldier drew his sword and struck Archimedes to death. The soldier obliged him to come but he refused. The most popular was that he was working on a mathematical theorem when the soldier rushed in. This was the time when Syracuse was captured in the two year long siege during the Second Punic War. To his excitement, he jumped off the tub and ran across the streets naked shouting “Eureka (I have found it)!”Īrchimedes died in the hands of a Roman soldier who killed him despite the announcement of General Marcus Claudius Marcellus that he should not be harmed. It was when he was taking a bath when he observed that water is displaced whenever a body is immersed on it. If it were only a cube, he would have easily measured its volume and thus the density.
However, he must do it without changing the crown’s original form. According to Vitruvius, Archimedes made this discovery upon the request of his friend, King Hieron II, that the new gold crown in the shape of a laurel wreath be tested if it were made of pure gold or not. This principle states that “a body immersed in a fluid is pushed upward by a buoyant force that is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced.” This is useful in hydrostatics and is known to be the Archimedes’ principle. Perhaps Archimedes’ most popular discovery is the Archimedes’ principle allowing people to compute the volume of an irregularly-shaped object. He also designed block and tackle pulley system, as describe by Plutarch, which enabled people to lift heavy objects with lesser amount of force. This is a pump made of a revolving screw inside a cylinder that is turned by hand and is able to transfer water from a lower position to a higher one. One of which is the Archimedes’ screw which is still used in some parts of the world today. Other than being a mathematician, Archimedes also invented many mechanical devices that were used mostly in the defense of his native city upon the invasion of Roman soldiers. Amthor finally found the general solution. One of the problems which he sent to them was the Cattle Problem presented in a forty-four-line poem that took a number of years before it was completely solved. He sent them mathematical theorems and problems to his own delight (and revenge). He had communicated with mathematicians in Alexandria, especially Conon of Samos and Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Some of his writings showed that he probably spent part of his life under Euclid’s contemporaries in Alexandria, Egypt. We can not tell as it is unknown, whether he had a wife or children. Other information about his life was written by Heracleides, which was Archimedes’ friend, but sadly, the work was lost. Little is known about his family and his early life but he had written in his The Sandreckoner that his father was named Phidias and that he was an astronomer. His date of birth was dated 287 BC based from John Tzetzes’ assertion that Arhimedes lived for 75 years. IntroductionĪrchimedes was a native of Syracuse, Sicily. Archimedes is great both in theory and application as he did not only gain reputation for being a mathematical genius but also as an inventor. One of which he is most famous for is his theorem that measures the weight of a body immersed in a liquid (called the Archimedes’ principle). He contributed many theorems in geometry that have applications in other fields such as engineering, physics, and astronomy. His achievements in mathematics were outstanding. Most historians and mathematicians consider Archimedes of Syracuse as one of the greatest mathematicians of all time.
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