Who was Archimedes

Who was Archimedes?

Archimedes is generally regarded as the greatest mathematician, Inventor and scientist of Greek antiquity.

Archimedes screw or the Archimedes screw pump is his invention. Born in, Syracuse, Sicily (then part of Greece), in about287 B.C…

 

Mathematician: Archimedes was obsessed with mathematics.

He would become so involved in his work that he would forget to eat. He scribbled notes and figures on any available surface. When outside, he used a stick to draw on the ground; when inside, he used his finger to trace figures in the olive oil on his skin.

 

Out of this obsession came many of his greatest theories and proofs, such as the means for approximating square roots, the value of pi (the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter), and the creation of a way to describe very large numbers. He also devised methods for calculating areas and volumes 2,000 years before the invention of calculus. In addition, Archimedes proved that the volume of a sphere is two-thirds the volume of a circumscribed cylinder. He considered this proof his greatest accomplishment and even requested that a representation of a sphere inside a cylinder be inscribed on his tomb.

 

Image of Archimedes Greek Mathematician

 

Scientist: Archimedes laws of flotation, Archimedes principle of buoyancy.

Legend has it that Archimedes discovered the hydrostatic principle while in the bath, where he noticed that the more of his body he submerged in the water, the greater the amount of water that over-flowed the bath. Upon making this discovery, he is said to have run naked through the streets of Syracuse, shouting “Eureka!” (Greek for “I have found it!”).  

 

Image above shows how the ancient Archimedean screw pump

 

Inventor: Archimedes screw is his most enduring invention an inventive device for raising water/lift water.

 

Archimedes screw pump is used to lift water,

popularly known as the Archimedean screw pump that is still used in crop irrigation and sewage treatment plants even today

Archimedes is believed to have seen screw pumps in use on rive Nile delta when he studied in Alexandria, Egypt

 

Greek: Archimedes lived and worked in Syracuse, Sicily (then part of Greece), in about 287 B.C

He invented “engines of war” When the Romans invaded Syracuse in 214 B.C.,to defend the city, including cranes to drop rocks, claws to lift ships from the water, and machines to fire wooden missiles. He also devised a system of mirrors that focused the sun’s light on enemy ships, setting the ships on fire.

 

Syracuse, Sicily (then part of Greece), in about 287 B.C..

 

After the Romans successfully captured the city in 212 B.C., Archimedes was killed by a Roman infantryman during the attack of the city after he allegedly told the soldier, “Don’t disturb my circles”—a reference to a series of figures Archimedes had outlined in the sand. As he wished, Archimedes’ tombstone is marked with the figure of a sphere enclosed by a cylinder and the 2:3 ratios of their volumes. Archimedes was killed by a Roman soldier who did not know who he was.