212 BC when the Roman forces captured Syracuse, following a 2-year siege. The commentaries on Archimedes’ work was compiled and written by Eutocius in the 6th century AD.Īrchimedes’ works and inventions have been an influential and inspirational source for scientists during the period of Renaissance.Īrchimedes died during the 2nd Punic War in c. 530 BC that the first detailed compilation was made by Isidore of Miletus in Byzantine Constantinople. The mathematicians from Alexandria read and quoted Archimedes and it was not until c. He is also known for designing cutting-edge machines including compound pulleys, defensive war machines, to help Hiero protect Syracuse from invasion and screw pump.Įven though Archimedes is regarded as one of the highly distinguished scientists in classical antiquity, not much is known about his writings on the same. Also, he is credited with the accurate approximation of pi, the creation of a system using exponentiation for expressing large numbers and investigation of the spiral, which bears his name. Through these concepts, he also worked towards deriving, as well as, proving a range of geometrical theorems, such as the surface area and volume of a sphere, area of a circle and the area under a parabola. He pre-empted modern calculus and analysis through the application of concepts, such as the method of exhaustion and infinitesimals. He spent all his life in Syracuse, except for a brief period during his youth when he went to study in Alexandria, Egypt at the school established by the famous Greek mathematician, Euclid.Īrchimedes has several mathematical discoveries and other inventions to his name. Archimedes used to help Hiero solve complex problems and would utterly amaze everyone, with his prowess. He says that Archimedes achieved so much fame because of this close relation, with the King and his son, Gelon. In Plutarch’s Parallel Lines, Plutarch makes a reference to Archimedes being related to the ruler of Syracuse, King Hiero II. Not much is known about his father, except that he was an astronomer and went by the name of Phidias. At that time, Syracuse was a colony in Magna Graecia, which was self-governed. He belonged to his time, as well as, ahead of his time.Īrchimedes was born at Syracuse, in Sicily, the seaport city, in c. He was an eminent physicist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, astronomer and scholar. Archimedes was, without a doubt, one of the world’s most distinguished scientists and the greatest scientist of the classical age.
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