Mathematical Marvel
A look at the life of Archimedes of syracuse.
Archimedes was born in Sicily over 2000 years ago.
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He was a great mathematician, engineer and inventor. Not very much is known about his life but many of his ideas are still well known today. Some of his ideas were so advanced that they would only be rediscovered 1000 years later.
Amongst Archimedes' inventions were the Archimedes screw which is an ingenious way of lifting water and is still widely used today.
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Archimedes great skill at engineering made him very popular in his home city of Syracuse. When the city was attacked by the Romans, Archimedes is said to have invented a giant claw that was capable of plucking whole ships from the sea.
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He is also believed to have invented huge mirrors that could use the power of the sun to set fire to enemy ships before they reached shore. The mirrors were made in the shape of a parabola.
There is a famous story regarding the death of Archimedes. As the Roman soldiers eventually entered the city, Archimedes was studying a geometric problem on circles. When a soldier asked Archimedes what he was doing, he was so engrossed in his maths that he ignored the soldier who then killed Archimedes with his sword.
The name of the soldier is unknown, but Archimedes name will live for another thousand years.