Archimedes
Archimedes
Archimedes of Syracusewas an Ancient Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientists in classical antiquity. Generally considered the greatest mathematician of antiquity and one of the greatest of all time, Archimedes anticipated modern calculus and analysis by applying concepts of infinitesimals and the method of exhaustion to derive and rigorously prove a range of geometrical theorems, including the area of a circle, the...
NationalityGreek
ProfessionMathematician
earth perimeter greater
The perimeter of the earth is about 3,000,000 stadia and not greater.
firsts geometry theorems
How many theorems in geometry which have seemed at first impracticable are in time successfully worked out!
floating weight body
Any solid lighter than a fluid will, if placed in the fluid, be so far immersed that the weight of the solid will be equal to the weight of the fluid displaced. On floating bodies I, prop 5.
found
Eureka, Eureka! (I found it, I found it!).
distance two balance
Two magnitudes whether commensurable or incommensurable, balance at distances reciprocally proportional to the magnitudes.
writing spheres cylinders
Having been the discoverer of many splendid things, he is said to have asked his friends and relations that, after his death, they should place on his tomb a cylinder enclosing a sphere, writing on it the proportion of the containing solid to that which is contained.
beautiful discovery broken
Spoken of the young Archimedes: . . . [he] was as much enchanted by the rudiments of algebra as he would have been if I had given him an engine worked by steam, with a methylated spirit lamp to heat the boiler; more enchanted, perhaps for the engine would have got broken, and, remaining always itself, would in any case have lost its charm, while the rudiments of algebra continued to grow and blossom in his mind with an unfailing luxuriance. Every day he made the discovery of something which seemed to him exquisitely beautiful; the new toy was inexhaustible in its potentialities.
discovery found
Eureka! (I have found it!)
lying opposites lines
The centre of gravity of any parallelogram lies on the straight line joining the middle points of opposite sides.
may impossible produce
Those who claim to discover everything but produce no proofs of the same may be confuted as having actually pretended to discover the impossible.
distance weight equilibrium
Equal weights at equal distances are in equilibrium and equal weights at unequal distances are not in equilibrium but incline towards the weight which is at the greater distance.
opposites two triangles
It follows at once from the last proposition that the centre of gravity of any triangle is at the intersection of the lines drawn from any two angles to the middle points of the opposite sides respectively.
men past reverse
Man has always learned from the past. After all, you can't learn history in reverse!
world rise-above oneself
Rise above oneself and grasp the world.