![]() Around 270 b.c.e., Hieron, a military commander and illegitimate son of a Syracusan nobleman, seized power and became king of Syracuse. When Archimedes was a teenager, something occurred that would have important implications for the young man. Starting around the age of seven, the boy Archimedes would have received the formal education typical of Greek males, including lessons in Greek grammar, literature, and music as well as training in sports such as running and throwing the discus and javelin. His father was the astronomer Pheidias, who passed on to the young Archimedes his love for the stars, the planets, and the other wonders of the universe. So at the time of Archimedes’ birth, Syracuse enjoyed an unusual period of peace and prosperity.Įxact dates are difficult, but it is believed that Archimedes was born around 287 b.c.e. Unlike most of the other city-states of the time, the leaders of Syracuse had managed to safely navigate the treacherous political waters between Rome and Carthage, the super-powers of the day. ![]() Originally a Greek colony, sitting at the nexus of Mediterranean trade, it was one of the most influential cities of the ancient world, described by Cicero as, “the greatest Greek City and the most beautiful of them all.” Its harbor was filled with Egyptian, Greek, and Phoenician trading vessels bearing all manner of oils, wines, and exotic spices. His life began on the sun-drenched shores of the island of Sicily, in the city-state of Syracuse. The name of this legendary genius, perhaps the greatest mathematician and inventor of all time, is Archimedes. Not to mention inventing what may have been the world’s first death ray. He is credited with calculating pi and the volume of the universe, discovering principles of buoyancy, inventing water pumps, and building war engines capable of grinding the Roman army to a halt. The tenth-century Islamic geometer Abū Sahl al-Kūhī was so impressed by his works that he called him the “imam of mathematics” (Hirshfeld, 2009). The Fields Medal, one of the most prestigious prizes for mathematicians bears his image. In the absence of facts, a body of legend has grown, punctuated by secondhand and thirdhand accounts of varying accuracy. ![]() Unfortunately much of his actual life is obscured by the mists of time. ![]() His genius shone like a beacon throughout the Hellenistic world, and his dazzling mathematical insights and wondrous inventions continue to fascinate us to this day. In it Monahan takes the reader from Archimedes archetypical "Eureka!" moment to J. Editor's note: The following is an excerpt from They Called Me Mad: Genius, Madness and the Scientists Who Pushed the Limits of Knowledge by John Monahan (on sale December 7 from Berkley). ![]()
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