In particular, they abuse Archimedes’ principle as if it is a competing explanation against gravity. The relatively few copies of Archimedes' written work that survived through the Middle Ages were an influential source of ideas for scientists during the Renaissance, while the discovery in 1906 of previously unknown works by Archimedes in the Archimedes Palimpsest has provided new insights into how he obtained mathematical results.In the 3rd century BCE, Archimedes of Syracuse wrote what we now call the Archimedes’ principle in his book “On Floating Bodies” using the spherical Earth model.įlat-Earthers like to misuse Archimedes’ principle as if it supports their claim that Earth is flat. 530 AD by Isidore of Miletus, while commentaries on the works of Archimedes written by Eutocius in the sixth century AD opened them to wider readership for the first time. Mathematicians from Alexandria read and quoted him, but the first comprehensive compilation was not made until c. Unlike his inventions, the mathematical writings of Archimedes were little known in antiquity.

Archimedes had proven that the sphere has two thirds of the volume and surface area of the cylinder (including the bases of the latter), and regarded this as the greatest of his mathematical achievements. Cicero describes visiting the tomb of Archimedes, which was surmounted by a sphere inscribed within a cylinder. He also defined the spiral bearing his name, formulae for the volumes of surfaces of revolution and an ingenious system for expressing very large numbers.Īrchimedes died during the Siege of Syracuse when he was killed by a Roman soldier despite orders that he should not be harmed. He used the method of exhaustion to calculate the area under the arc of a parabola with the summation of an infinite series, and gave a remarkably accurate approximation of pi. Modern experiments have tested claims that Archimedes designed machines capable of lifting attacking ships out of the water and setting ships on fire using an array of mirrors.Īrchimedes is generally considered to be the greatest mathematician of antiquity and one of the greatest of all time. He is credited with designing innovative machines, including siege machines and the screw pump that bears his name. Among his advances in physics are the foundations of hydrostatics, statics and an explanation of the principle of the lever. Although a few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientists in classical antiquity. 212 BC) was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer. He is credited wit Archimedes of Syracuse (Greek: Ἀρχιμήδης c.

Archimedes of Syracuse (Greek: Ἀρχιμήδης c.

Archimedes sphere