Journey Through Genius: The Great Theorems of Mathematics Characters & Character Analysis

Journey Through Genius: The Great Theorems of Mathematics Important People

Archimedes of Syracuse

Archimedes of Syracuse is a Greek inventor and mathematician of the later third century BC. He lives in Syracuse on the island of Siciiy and is believed to have studied at Alexandria. Archimedes is credited with the invention of the Archimedean screw, a device for raising water from one level to a higher level. He is also attributed with developing several advanced weapons used to defend Syracuse against the invasion of the Romans. Tradition holds that when Syracuse eventually falls to the Romans, Archimedes is killed by a soldier for refusing to come with him until he has completed working out a mathematical problem.

Along with Euclid, Archimedes is one of the greatest mathematicians of ancient times. His great theorem chosen by Dunham as the subject of a chapter is his estimation of the area of a circle and the value of π Using only the rudimentary arithmetic available at...
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