Archimedes
The man, The myth, The Legend
Background Information
Archimedes was an ancient greek mathamatcian from around the time of 287-212 B.C.. He was born in the city of Syracuse which was known to be the hub of commerce, art, and science. From living in the city of Syracuse, Archimedes gained the curiosity for problem solving and once he gained enough knowledge from his scholars he wanted to move. Archimedes decided to travel to Egypt to further study in Alexandria.
Contribution to the World of Math
Archimedes used math to invent many devices that are still used to today, such as: the pulley, fulcrum, and the lever. He also discovered the principles of buoyancy or the power of a fluid to exert an upward force on a body placed in it. There is a great tale in which he used the displacement of water to measure the kings crown's volume. He further used the volume of the crown to find its weight and then further to find it's density, in order to make sure the goldsmith wasn't stealing any gold and replacing it with silver. This discovery lead to his further research into volume and density which eventually created the modern theories of hydrostatics.
Famous Quote
"the shortest distance between two points is a straight line" -Archimedes