Archimedes

The legendary Archimedes was one of the most brilliant mathematicians and scientists to ever to grace our Earth. The things he's done for us are famous to this day. In his own time, he was known as "the wise one," "the master" and "the great geometer." He was also one of the last great Greek mathematicians.

Archimedes was born in 287 BC in Greece. He was the son of an astronomer and was found by his father and family to be brilliant in math even in childhood. Archimedes practiced math at every chance that arose. Archimedes practiced his math on any surface he could find. He even practiced his math in the dirt on the ground or in dust.

While Archimedes had many accomplishments, some of his most famous include: The determination of circular area; he approximated more precisely than anyone to date, the near development of the Calculus, the quadrature of the parabola, the sand-reckoner, the determination of the surface area and volume of a sphere, and his brilliant methods and proof for the sphere problem are described in his treatise.

Some of the inventions we use to this very day. Simple as they seem now; they were revolutionary in their time. Some of these include: the water screw (This machine for raising water, allegedly invented by the ancient Greek scientist Archimedes for removing water from the hold of a large ship. One form consists of a circular pipe enclosing a helix and inclined at an angle of about 45 degrees to the horizontal with its lower end dipped in the water; rotation of the device causes the water to rise in the pipe. Other forms consist of a helix revolving in a fixed cylinder or a helical tube wound around a shaft.), the burning mirror (During the Roman siege of Syracuse, he is said to have single-handedly defended the city by constructing lenses to focus the Sun's light on Roman ships and huge cranes to turn them upside down. When the Romans finally broke the siege, Archimedes was killed by a Roman soldier after snapping at him ``Don't disturb my circles,'' a reference to a geometric figure he had outlined on the sand.), the pulley, the lever, and the concept of pi.