Archimedes Research Paper

1612 Words4 Pages

A little info: Archimedes was a Greek Mathematician who was born in 287 BC and died in 212 BC. He was born in Syracuse, Sicily; during this time, the city was an independent Greek city-state which held a 500-year history. At the Siege of Syracuse Romans at the siege were specifically ordered not to harm Archimedes but he later was pronounced dead by being stabbed by a Roman soldier. His father (Phidias) was an astronomer and is believed to be related to the King of Syracuse. This information was found in his work “The Sand Reckoner.” Archimedes was labeled as one of the top scientists in classical antiquity. In those times, when blackboards and paper were not yet around, Archimedes constructed ashes, dust or all any available surface to help sketch his geometric figures. It’s been told that he used to get so intrigued with all of the work he did that sometimes he forgot to eat, skipped a meal or two just to finish on the project. He was considered the greatest mathematician in antiquity and possibly the greatest of all time. Once, King Hiero II ordered a gold crown and was suspicious that the crown was not only made of pure gold, but also some silver was suspected to be included in this crown. No one could prove this though. Archimedes was informed of this issue. One day while sitting with his thoughts revolving around his head, he took a bath and looked at his bath tub full and realized the same amount of water that filled the tub was proportional to the amount of his body that had been submerged. Once he came to this realization, he ran right out of the bath yelling “Eureka!” and screaming it while running out in the streets of Syracuse butt naked. Something the average person probably has never known until they read...

... middle of paper ...

...dn’t have as much as we’ve had today. He’s given the information and tooken the time necessary to help prove all of his calculations and equations. He was devoted to his work and was not willing to have someone take it from him. Minutes before his death, the roman soldier that had killed him asked for him to come and meet the general, but Archimedes (being the devoted, dedicated man he is) refused. He stated that he needed to finish up his work before he continued on with any other activities. This, infuriating the roman soldier feeling like he has not been listened to or obeyed, decided to lash out and stab Archimedes. This goes to show that any man dedicated is willing to die doing what he loves. Overall I enjoyed researching Archimedes and had a great time learning about a new mathematician despite the 2,000 words that I have had to provide during this session.

Open Document