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Famous Mathematician

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Famous Mathematician
Archimedes famous mathematician

Archimedes of Syracuse was an outstanding Greek mathematician, inventor, physicist, engineer and also an astronomer. Although not much is known about his life, he is considered as one of the most eminent scientists in classical antiquity. He established strong foundations in the field of physics, particularly in statics, hydrostatics and explained the principle of the lever. In his lifetime, he made many incredible inventions such as designing innovative machines, including screw pumps and siege machines, After intensive experiments, it is concluded that the machines designed by Archimedes are capable of lifting attacking ships out of the water and even setting ships on fire using an array of mirrors. Undoubtedly, Archimedes is considered the greatest scientist and mathematician of ancient times. He applied the 'method of exhaustion' in calculating the area under the arc of a parabola with the summation of an endless series and gave a marvelously precise approximation of pi, the symbol. He also identified the spiral that bears his name, designed formulae for the volumes of surfaces of revolution and also invented a technique for expressing extremely large numbers.

Archimedes was born in c. 287 BC in the seaport city of Syracuse, Sicily, which was a self-governing colony in Magna Graecia. His birth date is based on the calculations done by the Byzantine Greek historian John Tzetzes who concluded that Archimedes lived for around 75 years. In ‘The Sand Reckoner’, his father’s name is mentioned as ‘Phidias’, who was an astronomer, about whom nothing much is known. Plutarch marked in his ‘Parallel Lives’ that Archimedes was related to King Hiero II, the ruler of Syracuse. However, many aspects of Archimedes are still mysterious. For instance, whether he ever married or not or whether he had children are details that aren’t available at all. According to the information available, it is supposed that during his youth, Archimedes may

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