Archimedes Essay, Research Paper
Archimedes
Archimedes was born in 287 BC in Syracuse, a Grecian haven settlement in Sicily. Archimedes ’ male parent was Phidias. He was an uranologist ; this is all we know about his male parent and we learn this from Archimedes ’ work, The Sandreckoner. Archimedes was educated in Alexandria, Egypt. Archimedes ’ friend, Heracleides, wrote a life about him, but this work was lost. Some writers report that he visited Egypt and at that place invented a tool known as the Archimedes ’ prison guard. This is a pump, still used today in parts of the universe. It is likely that, when he was a immature adult male, Archimedes studied with the followings of Euclid. Many of his thoughts seem to match with the mathematics developed by Euclid. This guess is more certain because he sent his consequences to Alexandria with personal messages. He considered Conon of Samos, one of the greatest achieving mathematicians at Alexandria, both for his abilities as a mathematician and he besides respected him as a close friend. Archimedes spent most of his life in Sicily, near Syracuse, except for his journeys to Alexandria. He ne’er held any public office but he was faithful to his life-time of research and experiment. At times, Archimedes became so immersed in his work that he would bury to eat. He used every surface available to make his
work on, including oil on his skin to ashes from a fire. Many of Archimedes’ discoveries were put to the test during the Roman conquest of Sicily. His mechanical tools and machines were used, including the legendary catapult which he is credited for making. This was all for the protection of Syracuse. Despite the use of Archimedes’ inventions, Syracuse was captured during the Second Punic war. A Roman soldier, who found him drawing a mathematical diagram in the sand, killed Archimedes. It is said that Archimedes was so preoccupied in his calculation, that he simply said to the intruder, “Do not disturb my diagrams.” Aside from the fame Archimedes earned from his work on the Archimedes screw, he was also famous for his relationship with the king, Hiero. Hiero often had complicated problems to solve, and Archimedes solved them causing surprise among the town. The king often challenged Archimedes. One of Archimedes’ quotes is: “Give me a place to stand and I will move the Earth.” The king took him up on this challenge and invited him to move a ship that even all the men in Syracuse could not move. With his knowledge of levers and pulleys, Archimedes was able to create a machine that could move the ship. Archimedes was far beyond his time. With his discoveries in Mathematics, he was able to predict and imitate much of modern science.
