Great Physicists · Classical
Archimedes of Syracuse
The greatest mathematician-engineer of antiquity: buoyancy and 'Eureka', the law of the lever, approximating π, the method of exhaustion, the Sand Reckoner, war machines at the siege of Syracuse, and the lost-and-found Archimedes Palimpsest.
Step 1 of 5 · Overview30 min read ·
Key idea
Prereqs: Euclid & geometry. Next: Newton; calculus (limits). Sources: Reviel Netz & William Noel, *The Archimedes Codex* (2007); Plutarch, *Life of Marcellus*; Vitruvius, *De architectura* IX.Next: 1. Life