Archimedes

Archimedes (287 BCE 212 BCE), the greatest mathematician and mathematical physicist of antiquity, as !orn in "yracuse in hat is no #taly$ %is father &hidas as an astronomer$ 'rchimedes pro!a!ly studied in 'le(andria ith the follo ers of Euclid$ 'rchimedes as the founder of the sciences of statics and hydrostatics, as ell as !eing an ingenious engineer ho used his talents to sol)e a ide range of practical pro!lems$ %e also de)eloped the principle of the le)er and of multiple pulleys$ %e is credited ith in)enting a scre mechanism used to raise ater from lo er le)els, !ut the Egyptians may ha)e *no n of the 'rchimedean scre much earlier$ %is mathematical proofs ere !oth !oldly original and possessed rigor matching the highest standards of contemporary geometry$ +uch of hat is *no n of his life is anecdotal, coming from the ritings of historian, !iographer and philosopher &lutarch, !orn 2,- years after 'rchimedes. death$

/uring the second &unic 0ar, "yracuse sided ith Carthage against 1ome and as !esieged !y +arcellus and the 1oman troops for eight months during 212 BCE$ 2hroughout the siege, !oth !y land and !y sea, 'rchimedes in)ented a range of ingenious !allistic machines that considera!ly delayed the capture of the city$ 'ccording to &lutarch, he !uilt huge catapults that hurled ,--3pound !oulders at the enemy and created large cranes ith cla 3li*e hoo*s that lifted ships out of the sea, shoo* out the sailors, and thre the )essels against large roc*s, crushing them li*e eggs$ #t as asserted that he employed a series of mirrors that focused the sun on ships setting them afire, !ut this is no !elie)ed to !e entirely fanciful$ 1eportedly, the 1omans ere so fearful of 'rchimedes. de)ices that once they ere put to rout hen he merely hung ropes o)er the all$ +any of the stories a!out 'rchimedes that

ha)e come do n from secondary and tertiary sources may !e myths as there is no firm historical e)idence to support them$

'fter the city fell to +arcellus. troops, the general ordered that 'rchimedes as not to !e harmed$ 2ragically, one of his soldiers came across an old man dra ing figures in the sand$ 2he soldier, ho may not ha)e *no n his capti)e.s identity, ordered 'rchimedes to come ith him$ 'rchimedes responded, 4/on.t distur! my circles56 2he enraged soldier sle the great geometer ith his s ord$ +arcellus caused a splendid tom! to !e constructed for 'rchimedes, and had engra)ed on it the figure of a sphere inscri!ed in a cylinder$ 2his commemorated the proof 'rchimedes had gi)en that the )olume of a sphere is equal to t o3thirds that of the circumscri!ing right cylinder and its surface to four times the area ithin a great circle$

'lthough 'rchimedes fame sur)i)ed and spread through the orld, his tom! and its monument ere less fortunate$ 2he people of "yracuse failed to honor their greatest citi7en !y *eeping up his final resting place and !efore long it fell into neglect and its location forgotten$ "ome 187 years later, the great 1oman orator +arcus Cicero as appointed an administrator in "icily$ %e had learned of 'rchimedes hile still a !oy, and as fascinated !y the man, hom he used as a model for 4a good life$6 Cicero as successful in his mission of disco)ering 'rchimedes. tom!, hich he descri!ed in his Tusculanarum Disputationum$

40hen # as quaestor in "icily # managed to trac* do n 'rchimedes. gra)e$ 2he "yracusans *ne nothing a!out it, and indeed denied that any such thing e(isted$ But there it as, completely surrounded and hidden !y !ushes and !ram!les and thorns$ # remem!ered ha)ing heard of some simple lines of )erse hich had !een inscri!ed on his tom!, referring to a sphere and a cylinder modeled in stone on top of the gra)e$ 'nd so # too* a good loo* round all the

numerous tom!s that stand !eside the 'grigentine 9ate$ :inally, # noticed a little column, ;ust )isi!le a!o)e the scru!< it as surmounted !y a sphere and a cylinder$ # immediately said to the "yracusans, some of hose leading citi7ens ere ith me at the time, that # !elie)ed this as the )ery o!;ect # had !een loo*ing for$ "la)es ere sent in ith sic*les to clear the site, and hen a passage to the place as opened e approached the pedestal in front of us$ 2he epigram as tracea!le ith a!out half of the lines still legi!le, though appro(imately the second half of each line had !een orn a ay$6

'rchimedes. achie)ements in the practical use of mathematics are legendary$ "chool children are told the story of =ing %ieron.s cro n$ 2he latter commissioned a goldsmith to ma*e a cro n of solid gold and pro)ided the craftsman ith the e(act amount of the precious metal to ma*e it$ 0hen the tas* as completed, the cro n eighed the same as the gold allotted for its creation, !ut the *ing suspected the artisan su!stituted some sil)er in the piece and *ept the e(tra gold for himself$ >na!le to pro)e it, he assigned the pro!lem to 'rchimedes$ 0hile !athing, 'rchimedes reali7ed that the eight of the ater that o)erflo ed his tu! as equal to his !ody.s eight hen it as su!merged$ %e as so e(cited? he ;umped out of the tu!, and ran na*ed to the *ing, shouting 4Eure*a56 (4# ha)e found it$6) 2he dishonest goldsmith as found out and punished$

:or many the only thing learned from this account (if it actually happened) is that 'rchimedes as an early 4strea*er$6 2hey may !e una are of the importance and applications of the natural la of !uoyancy, *no n as 'rchimedes. &rinciple, hich states that a !ody that is completely or partially immersed in a fluid at rest is acted on !y an up ard, or !uoyant, force, equal to the eight of the displaced fluid$ 2he )olume of fluid displaced is equal to the )olume of the portion of the o!;ect su!merged$ 2he principle applies to floating and su!merged !odies and to all fluids, including liquids and gases$ #t e(plains the !uoyancy of ships and other )essels in ater$ :or a ship to stay afloat, it does

not require a great amount of ater$ #t needs to !e a!le to displace enough ater to equal its eight$ 2he principle also applies to the rise of a !alloon or dirigi!le in the air$ 2hese o!;ects float in the air due to the !uoyant gas ithin the giant !alloon3li*e !ag$

'rchimedes sol)ed many pro!lems put to him !y his *ing and the *ing.s son 9elon, !ut he dismissed these as trifles, !eing more interested in his purely theoretical or*$ #n geometry, his e(tant or*s are Measure of the Circle, Quadrature of the Parabola, and Spirals$ #n Measure he concluded that the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter is !et een 8 1@7 and 8 1-@71$ #n the Quadrature, 'rchimedes used the method of e(haustion to find areas of regions !ounded !y geometric figures such as para!olas and ellipses$ 2he method consists of finding sequences of regions hose areas can !e calculated and are less than (or greater than) the area of a gi)en region, and are increasing (or decreasing)? then sho ing that the area approaches the area of the gi)en region !ecause the area !et een the !oundary of the gi)en region and the appro(imating region is 4e(hausted$6 %is Spirals containing 28 propositions on the cur)e no *no n as the 4spiral of 'rchimedes,6 including finding tangents to it$ 2his spiral is traced !y a point mo)ing ith uniform speed along a straight line that is re)ol)ing ith uniform angular speed around a fi(ed point$

'rchimedes. arithmetical or*s consisted of t o papers$ #n the first, no lost, he de)ised a numeration system that ould accommodate large num!ers more easily than the un ieldy 9ree* num!er system, hich used the letters of the alpha!et$ #n the second paper, called The Sand Reckoner, he in)estigated )ery large num!ers !y determining the num!er of grains of sand required to fill the uni)erse, constructing num!ers up to 8 ( 1-17$ Aater commentators reported that 'rchimedes made many astronomical o!ser)ations$ >nfortunately the !oo* he rote on the construction of a celestial sphere is lost, and so too is the sphere of the stars he constructed$ +arcellus too* this and 'rchimedes. orrery (a mechanical apparatus hich illustrates ith !alls of )arious si7es the relati)e motions and positions of

the !odies in the solar system), to 1ome here they ere preser)ed as curiosities for se)eral hundred years and ere seen !y Cicero$

#n a letter he sent to his friend Eratosthenes, 'rchimedes descri!es his Method of Mechanical Theorems$ #n this remar*a!le or*, he re)eals ho he mechanically disco)ered his theorems !efore pro)ing them rigorously and also e(plains his use of infinitesimals$ 0hat is particularly remar*a!le a!out the Method is that it contains the solution to some 2- pro!lems using something a*in to integration a!out 1B-- years !efore Ce ton and Aei!ni7$ #t as !elie)ed that the te(t of the Method had !een lost$ But in 1B-7 /anish mathematical historian Dohann %ei!erg disco)ered a palimpsest at the Con)ent of the %oly "epulcher in #stan!ul$ (' palimpsest is a !oo* made on second3hand parchment, scru!!ing out the original te(t and in*ing in the ne $) 2his particular palimpsest originally as a scri!e.s copy in 9ree* of some of 'rchimedes. or*s, including the Method$ Eriginally copied in the 1-th century, the document sur)i)ed intact for 2-- years ith no one paying much attention to it and sometime !et een the 12th and 1Fth century, a mon* loo*ing to rite a ne prayer !oo*, imperfectly ashed out the 9ree* te(t on the pages, cut them in half, co)ered them ith religious te(t and re!ound them !et een !oards$ %ei!erg disco)ered the faint 'rchimedean su!te(t, !ut the palimpsest disappeared or as stolen from the con)ent sometime during 00#$

"ometime in the 1B8-s, a :rench family acquired the !oo* and in 1BB8 put it up for sale at Christie.s in +anhattan$ 2he 'rchimedes &alimpsest as sold for t o million dollars to an anonymous !uyer, ho contacted 2he 0alters 'rt 9allery in Baltimore for help in its restoration$ 2he 0alters as*ed the 1ochester #nstitute of 2echnology and the Dohns %op*ins >ni)ersity to each restore a fe pages$ >ltra3 )iolet, infrared, and digital cameras ere used to see through the later material to hat remained of the original te(t and illustrations$ >ltimately the entire te(t ill !e restored$ Besides !eing the only copy of the Method in the original 9ree*, it also is the only 9ree* source of 'rchimedes. On Floating Bodies$

1e)iel Cet7, &rofessor of 'ncient "cience at "tanford >ni)ersity, summed up its )alue<

4' manuscript is a indo into the past$ #t allo s us to get a )ie of a lost orld$ "ome manuscripts pro)ide us ith an indirect )ie only, others ith a !etter picture$ 0hat scholars do is put together all the e)idence a)aila!le, to form a single picture of the past$ Eur understanding of 'rchimedes is !ased on se)eral manuscriptsG$ 'll of them, e(cept the 'rchimedes &alimpsest, are )ery late copies hich pro)ide us only ith a )ery indirect picture of 'rchimedes. mind$ 2he !est )ie the &alimpsest$6 e ha)e, the closest e can get to 'rchimedes, is through

Quotation of the Day: 42here are things hich seem incredi!le to most men ho ha)e not studied
mathematics$6 'rchimedes