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what was archimedes early life like

by Isadore Bergstrom I Published 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago
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Born in Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 20 regions of Italy. It is one of the five Italian autonomous regions, in Southern Italy along with surrounding minor islands, officially referred to as Regione Siciliana.

, Italy, the scientist was interested in mathematics as well as physics from a very early age, along with his father, who was an astronomer. Archimedes was greatly influenced by Euclidean geometry during his education and learning in Alexandria.

Archimedes was born in Syracuse on the eastern coast of Sicily and educated in Alexandria in Egypt. He then returned to Syracuse, where he spent most of the rest of his life, devoting his time to research and experimentation in many fields.

Full Answer

What did Archimedes accomplish in his life?

Despite these contributions, during his time Archimedes was most known for inventing deadly war machines like the Claw of Archimedes. His other inventions include the Archimedes’ screw and the odometer.

Did Archimedes' 'Death Ray' actually work?

They did manage to ignite a portion of the ship, but only after ten full minutes of unobstructed sunlight with the ship remaining stationary in the harbor. In other words, they did manage to get the death ray to work, but the conditions under which they got it to work were far from realistic siege conditions.

What was Archimedes' childhood life like?

Archimedes' father was an astronomer whose name was Phidias. As a child Archimedes did not get to know his father because his father died when Archimedes was a small boy. Archimedes also went to study in Alexandria, Egypt. Here, Archimedes met Conon of Samos and Eratosthenes of Cyrene, who later went on to become friends of Archimedes.

Did Archimedes have a family?

Did Archimedes have a family? Almost nothing is known about Archimedes’ family other than that his father, Phidias, was an astronomer. The Greek historian Plutarch wrote that Archimedes was related to Heiron II, the king of Syracuse. As a young man, Archimedes may have studied in Alexandria with the mathematicians who came after Euclid.

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What was Archimedes like as a child?

In the third century BC, Syracuse was a hub of commerce, art and science. As a youth in Syracuse Archimedes developed his natural curiosity and penchant for problem solving. When he had learned as much as he could from his teachers, Archimedes traveled to Egypt in order to study in Alexandria.

What is known about Archimedes family personal life and early life?

What is known about Archimedes' family, personal life, and early life? Almost nothing is known about Archimedes' family other than that his father, Phidias, was an astronomer. The Greek historian Plutarch wrote that Archimedes was related to Heiron II, the king of Syracuse.

Did Archimedes go to school?

Archimedes did not go to college, as we understand college. Archimedes's work and discoveries have remained over the years, but the details of his personal life are unknown and lost.

What jobs did Archimedes have?

ArchimedesOccupation: Mathematician, physicist, and astronomer.Born: 287 BC in Syracuse, Sicily.Died: 212 BC in Syracuse, Sicily.Best known for: Being a great mathematician and inventor.

What was Archimedes IQ?

In existographies, Archimedes (287-212BC) (IQ:190|#39) (Cattell 1000:414) [RGM:9|1,500+] (Murray 4000:20|M / 5|T) (GME:4) (CR:75) was a Greek mathematician, physicist, and engineer, noted for his principle of the lever, buoyancy principle or theory of specific gravity, a mechanical method of the calculation of areas, ...

Who invented math?

The earliest evidence of written mathematics dates back to the ancient Sumerians, who built the earliest civilization in Mesopotamia. They developed a complex system of metrology from 3000 BC.

Who is the father of math?

philosopher ArchimedesThe Father of Math is the great Greek mathematician and philosopher Archimedes. Perhaps you have heard the name before–the Archimedes' Principle is widely studied in Physics and is named after the great philosopher.

Who invented zero?

"Zero and its operation are first defined by [Hindu astronomer and mathematician] Brahmagupta in 628," said Gobets. He developed a symbol for zero: a dot underneath numbers.

Who invented calculus?

Today it is generally believed that calculus was discovered independently in the late 17th century by two great mathematicians: Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz.

Did Archimedes invent pi?

Ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes of Syracuse, who lived in the third century B.C. and is considered the greatest mathematician of the ancient world, is credited with doing the first calculation of pi.

Who sat in the bath and said Eureka?

ArchimedesSupposedly, Archimedes was so thrilled and excited with this discovery that he immediately hopped out of the bath and ran onto the streets to tell the king, shouting loudly 'Eureka! Eureka!'

Who is the first mathematician in the world?

Thales of MiletusOne of the earliest known mathematicians were Thales of Miletus (c. 624–c.546 BC); he has been hailed as the first true mathematician and the first known individual to whom a mathematical discovery has been attributed.

What was Archimedes known for?

Archimedes was well known for his inventions and scientific discoveries. The most famous of these were the Archimedes' Screw (a device for raising water that is still used in crop irrigation and sewage treatment plants today) and Archimedes' principle of buoyancy.

Did Archimedes have kids?

A biography of Archimedes was written by his friend Heracleides, but this work has been lost, leaving the details of his life obscure. It is unknown, for instance, whether he ever married or had children, or if he ever visited Alexandria, Egypt, during his youth.

Who were Archimedes parents?

PhidiasArchimedes / ParentsArchimedes was born in the Greek city-state of Syracuse on the island of Sicily in approximately 287 BC. His father, Phidias, was an astronomer. Archimedes may also have been related to Hiero II, King of Syracuse.

Who was Archimedes for kids?

Archimedes was a man with many talents. Not only did he know about numbers and about water and other objects, Archimedes invented things. He made many different inventions, tools and machines. One thing that he made was a lift that would help farmers to move water into their fields.

What was Archimedes’ profession? When and how did it begin?

Archimedes was a mathematician who lived in Syracuse on the island of Sicily. His father, Phidias, was an astronomer, so Archimedes continued in th...

What accomplishments was Archimedes known for?

Archimedes found that the volume of a sphere is two-thirds the volume of a cylinder that encloses it. He also discovered a law of buoyancy, Archime...

What specific works did Archimedes create?

Archimedes wrote nine treatises that survive. In On the Sphere and Cylinder, he showed that the surface area of a sphere with radius r is 4πr2 and...

What is known about Archimedes’ family, personal life, and early life?

Almost nothing is known about Archimedes’ family other than that his father, Phidias, was an astronomer. The Greek historian Plutarch wrote that Ar...

Where was Archimedes born? How and where did he die?

Archimedes was born about 287 BCE in Syracuse on the island of Sicily. He died in that same city when the Romans captured it following a siege that...

What did Hiero II use to make his crown?

King Hiero II had supplied pure gold to get a crown made for himself but when he received it he suspected that some silver had been used so he called Archimedes to investigate. While taking bath, Archimedes noticed that the amount of water overflowing the tub was proportional to the portion of his body that was being immersed. It stuck to him that the same would apply to the crown and he could use the proportion of both gold and silver to weigh them in water.

How many people could the ship Syracusia carry?

Syracusia was large enough to be able to carry 600 people. It had a gymnasium, a temple that was dedicated to the Goddess Aphrodite and also possessed a garden.

What did Archimedes invent?

While the inventions of Archimedes were known in the antiquity but his mathematical writings were little known.

When was Archimedes Palimpsest discovered?

In addition to that, the discovery in 1906 of unknown works by Archimedes in the Archimedes Palimpsest has thrown new light into how he obtained mathematical results. Recommended Lists: Recommended Lists: The Most Influential Persons in History. The Greatest Minds in History.

Which document contains Archimedes' works?

Archimedes Palimpsest is the most illustrious document that contains Archimedes’ Works.

Which works of Archimedes survived?

The works of Archimedes that survived are namely On the Equillibrium of Planes, On Spirals, On Measuremant of Circles, On Cuboids and Spheroids, On Floating Bodies, On Sphere and Cylinders, (O)stomachion, The Quadrature of the Parabola, The Method of Mechanical Theorem, Archimedes’s Cattle Problem and The Sand Reckoner.

When did Archimedes die?

Not much information about his personal life is available but historians believe that he breathed his last somewhere around 212 B.C or 211 B.C. This was when Syracuse was conquered by Roman general Marcus Claudius Marcellus and Archimedes was killed by a Roman soldier.

Why did Archimedes ask for his tombstone?

Archimedes' tomb shown in a painting. Archimedes asked for his tombstone to have an engraving of his favourite mathematical proof.

Where did Archimedes go to study?

When Archimedes was older he went to Alexandria, Egypt, most likely to study at the largest library in the ancient world, the Ancient Library of Alexandria. Archimedes mathematics teachers would have studied under the great mathematician Euclid. Archimedes mentioned Conon of Samos, who was also an astronomer and mathematician in Alexandria, as being his friend. Another friend was Eratosthenes of Cyrene who was a famous mathematician, astronomer and geographer. Two pieces of Archimedes work have been found addressed to Eratosthenes.

What did Archimedes look like?

We do not know what Archimedes' looked like, but there have been many depictions of him over time.

Where did Archimedes go after he finished his studies?

After he finished studying, Archimedes went back to Syracuse were he lived the rest of his life.

Who was Archimedes' father?

Archimedes of Syracuse was born in the Greek city of Syracuse in 287BC. His father was Phidias who was an astronomer about whom nothing else is known. Archimedes’ relatives, including his siblings and mother, are unknown. The reason we do not know much about this part of his life, and whether he married or had children is because works and biographies written about Archimedes have been lost. He was probably from a wealthy family and may have been related to the King of Syracuse, King Hieron II, as a well know Greek historian in the first century, Plutarch, wrote that he was related to the King.

Who found Archimedes' tomb?

Cicero, a Roman philosopher, said in his writings that he found the tomb of Archimedes in 75BC. Cicero found the tomb neglected and covered in bushes. Cicero cleaned up the tomb. The tomb had a sculpture of a sphere and a cylinder on it that showed what Archimedes thought to be his greatest achievement, the proof that the volume of a sphere is 2/3 that of the cylinder of the same width and height. Today the location of Archimedes’ tomb is unknown although there have been tombs that people have claimed to be Archimedes’.

What were Archimedes's inventions?

According to the Greek biographer Plutarch (c. C.E. 46–c. C.E. 120), Archimedes's military inventions helped defend his home city when it was attacked by Roman forces. Plutarch wrote that after Hieron died, the Roman general Marcus Claudius Marcellus (c. 268 B.C.E. –208 B.C.E. ) attacked Syracuse by both land and sea. According to Plutarch Archimedes's catapults (machines that could hurl objects such as heavy stones) forced back the Roman forces on land. Later writers claimed that Archimedes also set the Roman ships on fire by focusing an arrangement of mirrors on them. Nevertheless, despite Archimedes's efforts, Syracuse eventually surrendered to the Romans. Archimedes was killed after the city was taken, although it is not known exactly how this occurred.

What did Archimedes think of the bathtub?

He noticed that the amount of water overflowing the tub was proportional (related consistently) to the amount of his body that was being immersed (covered by water). This gave him an idea for solving the problem of the crown.

How did Archimedes determine the amount of silver in the crown?

It states that a body immersed in a fluid is buoyed up (pushed up) by a force that is equal to the weight of fluid that is displaced (pushed out of place) by the body. Using this method, he would have first taken two equal weights of gold and silver and compared their weights when immersed in water. Next he would have compared the weight of the crown and an equal weight of pure silver in water in the same way. The difference between these two comparisons would indicate that the crown was not pure gold.

What is the difference between a pulley and a lever?

A lever is a kind of basic machine in which a bar is used to raise or move a weight, while a pulley uses a wheel and a rope or chain to lift loads.

What did the King order for the crown?

The king ordered a golden crown and gave the crown's maker the exact amount of gold needed. The maker delivered a crown of the required weight, but Hieron suspected that some silver had been used instead of gold. He asked Archimedes to think about the matter.

What was Euclid's method of exhaustion?

One way he did this was to extend what is known as the "method of exhaustion." This method is used to determine the areas and volumes of figures with curved lines and surfaces, such as circles, spheres, pyramids, and cones. Archimedes's investigation of the method of exhaustion helped lead to the current form of mathematics called integral calculus. Although his method is now outdated, the advances that finally outdated it did not occur until about two thousand years after Archimedes lived.

Where was Archimedes born?

Little is known about Archimedes's life. He probably was born in the seaport city of Syracuse, a Greek settlement on the island of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea. He was the son of an astronomer (someone who studies outer space, such as the stars) named Phidias. He may also have been related to Hieron, King of Syracuse, ...

What did Archimedes discover about the gold crown?

King Hiero had commissioned a new royal crown for which he provided solid gold to the goldsmith. When the crown arrived, King Hiero was suspicious that the goldsmith only used some of the gold, kept the rest for himself and added silver to make the crown the correct weight. Archimedes was asked to determine whether or not the crown was pure gold without harming it in the process. Archimedes was perplexed but found inspiration while taking a bath. He noticed that the full bath overflowed when he lowered himself into it, and suddenly realized that he could measure the crown's volume by the amount of water it displaced. He knew that since he could measure the crown's volume, all he had to do was discover its weight in order to calculate its density and hence its purity. Archimedes was so exuberant about his discovery that he ran down the streets of Syracuse naked shouting, “Eureka!” which meant “I've found it!” in Greek.

How long did Archimedes study geometry?

This compilation was fundamental to the study of geometry for over 2,000 years, and undoubtedly influenced the work of Archimedes. After his studies in Alexandria, Archimedes returned to Syracuse and pursued a life of thought and invention. Many apocryphal legends record how Archimedes endeared himself to King Hiero II, ...

How did Archimedes find inspiration?

Archimedes was perplexed but found inspiration while taking a bath. He noticed that the full bath overflowed when he lowered himself into it, and suddenly realized that he could measure the crown's volume by the amount of water it displaced.

What was Archimedes' family?

Aside from that, very little is known about the early life of Archimedes or his family. Some maintain that he belonged to the nobility of Syracuse, and that his family was in some way related to that of Hiero II, King of Syracuse. In the third century BC, Syracuse was a hub of commerce, art and science.

Why did Archimedes travel to Egypt?

When he had learned as much as he could from his teachers, Archimedes traveled to Egypt in order to study in Alexandria. Founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC, Alexandria had, by Archimedes' time, earned a reputation for great learning and scholarship. Euclid was one of the most well-known scholars who lived in Alexandria prior ...

What was Archimedes' solution to the problem of a screw?

The King called upon Archimedes for assistance. Archimedes' solution was to create a machine consisting of a hollow tube containing a spiral that could be turned by a handle at one end.

Why is the Archimedes screw still used?

The Archimedes Screw is still used as a method of irrigation in developing countries.

Childhood and Adolescence

He was born around 287 B.C. in Syracuse, Greece, on the Greek island of Sicily. Phidias was his father’s name, and he was an astronomer.

The Principle of Archimedes

This was one of his most significant discoveries. He devised a method for calculating the volume of an item having an irregular shape that he discovered. King Hiero II had sent pure gold to have a crown created for himself, but when he received it, he believed it had been tainted with silver, so he summoned Archimedes to check.

The Screw of Archimedes

It’s worth noting that a number of his discoveries were prompted by the needs of his hometown, Syracuse. According to Athenaeus of Naucratis, King Hiero II tasked Archimedes with creating a ship called “Syracusia” that could transport a huge number of passengers, supplies, and be employed as a naval warship.

Ray of Heat

According to Lucia’s book from the 2nd century AD, Archimedes used fire to destroy enemy ships during the Siege of Syracuse. Anthemius of Tralles, centuries later, referred to this weapon as “burning spectacles.” The “Archimedes heat ray” is another name for this gadget.

Mathematics Contributions of Archimedes

Archimedes also made a significant contribution to mathematics.

Additional Inventions of Archimedes

In his work ‘On the Equilibrium of Planes,’ Archimedes worked on levers and explained them as well as the principles involved. Archimedes created block-and-tackle pulley systems, according to Plutarch. This enables sailors to carry large objects using the theory of leverage.

Major Projects of Archimedes

He was a brilliant scientist and mathematician who contributed to a number of breakthroughs and inventions. Archimedes’ principle, Archimedes’ screw, hydrostatics, levers, and infinitesimals were among his most notable works.

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1.Archimedes | Facts & Biography | Britannica

Url:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Archimedes

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11 hours ago Archimedes was born in the city of Syracuse on the island of Sicily in 287 BC. As a youth in Syracuse Archimedes developed his natural curiosity and penchant for problem solving. When …

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