Archimedes
Background Information:
Archimedes, (born c. 287 bce, Syracuse, Sicily,—died 212/211 bce, Syracuse), the most-famous mathematician and inventor in ancient Greece. Archimedes was the son of the mathematician and astronomer named Phidias. There is very little information left behind on Archimedes’ family. Some say he came from a noble family, while others claim he was related to the King of Syracuse. However, evidence shows that Archimedes traveled to Egypt to study at a young age. Archimedes is especially important for his discovery of the relation between the surface and volume of a sphere and its circumscribing cylinder. He is known for his formulation of a hydrostatic principle (known as Archimedes’ …show more content…
His methods anticipated the integral calculus 2,000 years before Newton and Leibniz. He introduced the concept of Pi . Archimedes also produced formulas to calculate the areas of regular shapes, using a revolutionary method of capturing new shapes by using pre-existing shapes. During this time period, his understanding of geometric shapes and volume was extraordinary. One of Archimedes most famous works is Measurement of the Circle. The Measurement of the Circle is the exact distance of Pi, from values 3 1/7 and 3 10/17. He discovered this by circumscribing and inscribing a circle with regular polygons with 96 sides. He also was the founder for the relationship between volume, mass and pressure. The rules and relationships are the basic foundation to many of today's inventions. Archimedes has also written many books with his finding in geometry. Without such discoveries by Archimedes, many of today's inventions may not …show more content…
This gave rise to what has become known as Archimedes’ Principle: an object is immersed in a fluid is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object. This discovery also helped him in aiding King Hiero 11. Archimedes used the water displacement method to identify the use of silver, instead of gold, in the crown. This was an amazing way to figure out the content without disturbing the structure of the crown itself. The water displacement method is still used today to find the volume of irregularly shaped