Archimedes short message. Biography of Archimedes: a genius who was born too soon. Catapults, ballistae and scorpions

(287 - 212 BC)

Archimedes was born in 287 BC (because of this, many facts of his biography were lost) in the Greek city of Syracuse, where he lived almost his entire life. His father was Phidias, the court astronomer of the ruler of the city of Hieron. Archimedes, like many other ancient Greek scientists, studied in Alexandria, where the rulers of Egypt, the Ptolemies, gathered the best Greek scientists and thinkers, and also founded the famous, largest library in the world.

After studying in Alexandria, Archimedes returned to Syracuse again and inherited his father's position.

In theoretical terms, the work of this great scientist was blindingly multifaceted. The main works of Archimedes concerned various practical applications of mathematics (geometry), physics, hydrostatics and mechanics. In his work “Parabola of Quadrature”, Archimedes substantiated the method for calculating the area of ​​a parabolic segment, and he did this two thousand years before the discovery of integral calculus. In On the Measurement of a Circle, Archimedes first calculated the number "pi" - the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter - and proved that it is the same for any circle. We still use the system of naming integers invented by Archimedes.

The mathematical method of Archimedes, connected with the mathematical works of the Pythagoreans and with the work of Euclid that completed them, as well as with the discoveries of Archimedes' contemporaries, led to the knowledge of the material space that surrounds us, to the knowledge of the theoretical form of objects located in this space, the form of a perfect, geometric form, to which objects more or less approach and whose laws must be known if we want to influence the material world.

But Archimedes also knew that objects have more than just shape and dimension: they move, or can move, or remain stationary under the action of certain forces that move objects forward or bring them into balance. The great Syracusan studied these forces, inventing a new branch of mathematics in which material bodies, reduced to their geometric form, retain at the same time their heaviness. This geometry of weight is rational mechanics, it is statics, as well as hydrostatics, the first law of which was discovered by Archimedes (the law bearing the name of Archimedes), according to which a force equal to the weight of the liquid displaced by it acts on a body immersed in a liquid.

Once raising his leg in the water, Archimedes noted with surprise that his leg became lighter in the water. "Eureka! Found it,” he exclaimed as he stepped out of his tub. The anecdote is amusing, but, conveyed in this way, it is not accurate. The famous "Eureka!" was uttered not in connection with the discovery of the law of Archimedes, as is often said, but in connection with the law of the specific gravity of metals - a discovery which also belongs to the scientist of Syracuse and whose detailed details are found in Vitruvius.

It is said that one day Heron, the ruler of Syracuse, turned to Archimedes. He ordered to check whether the weight of the golden crown corresponds to the weight of the gold allotted to it. To do this, Archimedes made two ingots, one of gold, the other of silver, each of the same weight as the crown.

Then he put them in turn in a vessel with water, noted how much its level had risen. Having lowered the crown into the vessel, Archimedes found that its volume exceeds the volume of the ingot. So the dishonesty of the master was proved.

The review of Cicero, the great orator of antiquity, who saw the “Archimedean sphere” - a model showing the movement of heavenly bodies around the Earth, is curious: “This Sicilian possessed a genius that, it would seem, human nature cannot achieve.”

And, finally, Archimedes was not only a great scientist, he was, moreover, a man passionate about mechanics. He tests and creates a theory of five mechanisms known in his time and referred to as "simple mechanisms". These are a lever ("Give me a point of support," said Archimedes, "and I will move the Earth"), a wedge, a block, an endless screw, and a winch. It is Archimedes who is often credited with the invention of the infinite screw, but it is possible that he only improved the hydraulic screw, which served the Egyptians in draining swamps.

Subsequently, these mechanisms were widely used in different countries of the world. Interestingly, an improved version of the water-lifting machine could be found at the beginning of the 20th century in a monastery located on Valaam, one of the northern Russian islands. Today, the Archimedean screw is used, for example, in an ordinary meat grinder.

The invention of the infinite screw led him to another important invention, even if it had become commonplace, the invention of a bolt constructed from a screw and a nut.

To those of his fellow citizens who would consider such inventions worthless, Archimedes presented decisive evidence to the contrary on the day when, by cunningly fitting a lever, screw and winch, he found a means, to the surprise of onlookers, to launch a heavy galley that had run aground, with everything her crew and cargo.

Even more convincing proof he gave in 212 BC. During the defense of Syracuse from the Romans during the Second Punic War, Archimedes designed several war machines that allowed the townspeople to repel the attacks of the outnumbered Romans for almost three years. One of them was a system of mirrors, with which the Egyptians were able to burn the Roman fleet. This feat of his, which Plutarch, Polybius and Titus Livia told about, of course, aroused more sympathy among ordinary people than the calculation of the number "pi" - another feat of Archimedes, very useful in our time for students of mathematics.

Archimedes died during the siege of Syracuse, he was killed by a Roman soldier at the moment when the scientist was absorbed in the search for a solution to the problem set before him.

It is curious that, having conquered Syracuse, the Romans did not become the owners of the works of Archimedes. Only after many centuries they were discovered by European scientists. That is why Plutarch, one of the first to describe the life of Archimedes, mentioned with regret that the scientist did not leave a single work.

Plutarch writes that Archimedes died at a ripe old age. A slab depicting a sphere and a cylinder was placed on his grave. It was seen by Cicero, who visited Sicily 137 years after the scientist's death.

He left numerous disciples. A whole generation of followers, enthusiasts rushed to the new path opened by him, who, like the teacher, were eager to prove their knowledge with concrete conquests.

The first of these students was the Alexandrian Ctesibius, who lived in the 2nd century BC. The inventions of Archimedes in the field of mechanics were in full swing when Ctesibius added to them the invention of the gear wheel.

(c. 287 BC -212 BC) ancient Greek mathematician and mechanic

Born in 287 BC. e. in Sicily, in the city of Syracuse. His father, mathematician and astronomer Phidias, gave his son a good education, and Archimedes received initial knowledge in these sciences from his father.

Archimedes wrote letters to Alexandria to Dositheus, a student of the astronomer and mathematician Konon, who was in charge of the Library of Alexandria. In these letters he appears before us as a mathematician. Titles of the letters: "Squaring the parabola", "On the ball and the cylinder", "On conchoids and spheroids", "On spirals".

Other mathematical works of Archimedes are "Circle Measurement" and "Psammit" ("Sand Calculus"). The last work is devoted to writing very large numbers. These works were created already in adulthood, and he began to study mathematics under the influence of the Alexandrian scientist Konon. In the first mathematical letter "Squaring the parabola" we are talking about areas. This is the task of modern integral calculus. Archimedes uses the exhaustion method of Eudoxus of Cnidus (405 - 355 BC), the great Greek mathematician, astronomer, philosopher and geographer. In the mathematical letter "On the Sphere and the Cylinder", Archimedes found that the volume of the cylinder circumscribed near the sphere is one and a half times the volume of the sphere.

The letter "On Spirals" said that a crooked spiral describes a point that moves in a revolving circle. Archimedes knew how to draw a tangent to his spiral.

In the study of this spiral, he finds the sum of the squares of natural numbers.

He did not bypass the famous problem of antiquity about the squaring of a circle, establishing that the well-known number 71, equal to the ratio of the circumference to the diameter, lies between the numbers

Archimedes also found a formula for calculating the area of ​​\u200b\u200ba triangle on three sides:

where

semiperimeter of a triangle.

This ratio is called Heron's formula, in honor of Heron of Alexandria, a Greek mechanic who lived in the 1st century AD, who in his work "Mechanics" cited excerpts from the works of Archimedes. Heron made this formula popular. We can say that he opened it for the second time.

Archimedes dedicated his mathematical work "Psammit" to Gelon, the son of King Hieron, the ruler of Syracuse. It is known that King Hieron was a relative of Archimedes and patronized him throughout his life. The word "psammit" can be translated as the calculation of grains of sand. Archimedes develops a system for classifying large numbers without using either zero or exponent. He finds these huge numbers - the sizes of the planets, the distance between the planets, their orbits. The thirteen numbers of Archimedes have come down to us thanks to the writings of Hippolytus, a Roman Christian writer who lived in the 2nd century BC. e. These interplanetary distances make it possible to reconstruct the Archimedes Universe. So he created another miracle - a celestial globe. This is a sphere that rotated and reproduced the movement of the Moon, the Sun and the five planets.

A mention of the celestial globe of Archimedes can be found in the Roman orator Cicero: “I remember how once, together with Gaius Sulpicius Gallus, one of the most learned people in our country, I was visiting Marcus Marcellus. Gallus asked him to bring the famous "sphere", the only trophy that great-grandfather Marcellus wanted to decorate his house after the capture of Syracuse, a city full of treasures and wonders. I have often heard people talk about this "sphere", which was considered the masterpiece of Archimedes, and I must confess that at first glance I did not find anything special in it. But when Gallus began to explain to us with great skill the device of this device, I came to the conclusion that the Sicilian had a talent greater than what a person can possess. For Gallus said that a solid sphere without voids was invented a long time ago, but such a sphere, on which the movements of the Sun, the Moon and five stars, called wandering, would be represented, could not be created in the form of a solid body; the invention of Archimedes is amazing precisely because he figured out how, with dissimilar movements during one revolution, to maintain unequal and different paths. When Gallus set this sphere in motion, it happened that on this ball of bronze the Moon replaced the Sun for as many revolutions as it took for days to replace it in the sky itself.

The book of Archimedes on the structure of the celestial globe was known to his contemporaries, but has not reached us. In order to reproduce planetary movements on his celestial globe, the scientist used the research of the great Eudoxus of Cnidus.

In mechanics, he introduced the concept of the center of gravity, that is, such a point of a figure where its weight can be concentrated. “Give me a point of support and I will move the Earth” - this catchphrase belongs to Archimedes. The Greek writer Plutarch said: “Archimedes, by the way, once wrote to his relative and friend King Hieron that with this force any weight can be lifted. Surprised, Hieron began to ask him to prove his words: to lift any large body with a small force. The scientist ordered to put a large crew on the royal cargo trireme, with great difficulty, with the help of many hands pulled ashore, to put an ordinary load on it and, sitting at some distance, without any effort, calmly moving the end of the chain hoist with his hand, began to pull the trireme towards him so quietly and evenly, as if she were floating on the sea.

During the defense of Syracuse from a powerful Roman army, led by Mark Claudius Marcellus, the machines and tools created by Archimedes were put into action. Many huge boulders fell on the Romans. It looked like they were falling from the sky. Machines that looked like ancient lizards lifted the ships and threw them on the rocks, hooked them and lifted them into the air, turned them over and threw them back into the water. Marcus Claudius Marcellus retreated.

The defense of Syracuse was a great triumph for the scientist. The Greek historian and commander Polybius (202-122 BC) described artillery in detail. He believed that, in addition to creating remarkable artillery, the scientists carried out ballistic calculations and preliminary sighting on the ground. In addition to throwing machines, there were also short-range defensive ones. Polybius wrote that they moved outside the walls of the fortress and, when necessary, advanced beyond its borders. The arrows of the machines turned, at the end of the main arrow there was a beak that captured the bow of the ship. Machines "grabbed the ships with iron paws and lifted them into the air." Others turned ships over. The "iron paws" of Archimedes are also used in modern manipulators and cranes.

It is interesting that for the first time he made loopholes in the walls, proving himself to be a skillful fortifier, because before the walls were built solid. Firearms appeared only in the Middle Ages. Then the fortifiers began to make loopholes in the fortress walls.

The work of Archimedes "The Book of Supports" considers construction tasks and is an outstanding work in ancient technology. Hero of Alexandria in the book "Mechanics" cites strength calculations made by Archimedes from it. Neither before nor after him did ancient architects make such calculations.

A major invention of Archimedes is the water-lifting screw or snail. For example, if water got into the hold of a ship, how to remove it from there? The ancient Greek writer Athenaeus (2nd century AD) writes: “One person sucked her off with the help of an endless screw invented by Archimedes.” His snail is described in the "Mechanics" of Heron of Alexandria and in the work "Mathematical Library" by Pappus of Alexandria (III-IV centuries). The design of the screw has changed over time, its variants are found in the technical sketches of Leonardo da Vinci (1564-1642), an outstanding Italian mathematician, artist, physician and engineer of the 16th century. He proposed his own designs of water-lifting propellers for the water supply of the city of Augsburg.

The rebirth of Archimedean snails is already happening today, when all-terrain vehicles for off-road, swamps, and snowy plains are being created. Their undercarriage is made in the form of Archimedes' snail.

There is a legend that he created a beam weapon. You can believe the Greek writer Plutarch, who writes that when the ships of the Roman commander Marcus Marcellus approached from the sea to Syracuse at the distance of an arrow flight, thousands of mirrors reflected the bright rays of the sun on the ships of Marcellus. A terrible fire broke out on the Roman ships, and they were turned to ashes. This is confirmed by the words of Lupian of Samosata, who in one of his speeches, speaking of science, refers to the great Archimedes, "who, with the help of his art, burned the enemy ships."

The German mathematician Athanasius Kircher in the 17th century in the book "The Great Art of Light and Shadow", talking about his experiments with mirrors, wrote that he believed that Archimedes burned enemy ships with the sun's rays.

And the famous Rene Descartes, mathematician and philosopher, in his "Dioptric" said about this: "No, it can not be!" Descartes' authority was very high. For a hundred years, no one believed in the authenticity of this story. In 1747, Georges Louis Leclerc Buffon, a French engineer, published a treatise "The invention of mirrors for igniting objects at great distances" and actually confirmed the truth of the deeds of Archimedes.

The scientist served with King Hieron, who loved his brilliant friend. Once the king decided to donate a golden crown to one of the temples in Syracuse. Found the best artist. Hieron gave him the right amount of gold. The crown was weighed, and its weight turned out to be exactly equal to the weight of the released gold. Suddenly, a denunciation came in: "King, part of the gold from the crown was stolen, replacing it with silver."

Hieron instructed Archimedes to check the honesty of the master. The scientist thought at home, on the street, in the bathhouse. . . "Eureka! Eureka! shouted a naked man running through the streets of Syracuse. - I found it, I found it! Immersed in the bath, Archimedes suddenly noticed that exactly the same amount of water flows out of it, what is the volume of his body immersed in water. He presented his idea to King Hieron: “Take, king, two ingots - of gold and silver - so that their weight is exactly equal to the weight of the crown made by the master. Then, in a vessel filled to the very brim with water, we will lower successively both ingots and the crown. Each time we will measure the volume of displaced water.” The crown displaced more water than an ingot of gold. Gold theft has been proven.

The composition of Archimedes "On swimming bodies" was devoted to hydrostatics. The author considered an ideal fluid. He tests the mathematical laws of hydraulics experimentally. In the book "The Feast of the Sophists", an encyclopedic edition of 15 books, the Greek writer Athenaeus, who lived in the 2nd century, talks about the "ship of Hieron". Athenaeus tells how the geometer Archimedes supervised the construction of a ship for Hiero of Syracuse. He asked the king to bring from Etna so much timber that it would be enough for sixty ships. Archimedes set to work, he was the best shipbuilder known to Hiero. The ship was striking in size and luxury. Eight of its towers were equipped with throwing machines of Archimedes. He launched a ship with assistants with the help of his propeller. The ship "Syracosia" is a great creation of Archimedes the shipbuilder. When the ship arrived in Egypt, it was renamed the Alexandria.

The long struggle of Syracuse against the Romans ended with the fact that in 212 BC. e. traitors opened the gates of the city to the enemy. Legionnaires killed 75-year-old Archimedes.

The Roman writer Titus of Livy (59-17 BC) left the following testimony: “. . . many examples of vile malice and vile greed could be recalled, but the most famous among them is the murder of Archimedes. In the midst of wild confusion, to the screams and clatter of brutalized soldiers, he calmly thought, looking at the figures drawn on the sand, and some robber stabbed him with a sword, not even suspecting who it was. According to legend, when he saw the sword raised above him, Archimedes exclaimed: “Do not touch my drawings!”.

Mark Tullius Cicero (103-43 BC), the famous Roman orator, bowed to the great Archimedes. It was Cicero who sought out in 76 BC. e. abandoned tomb of Archimedes in Sicily. On the grave obelisk, instead of a name, a sphere was depicted with a cylinder described next to it, and this was done according to the will of the scientist.

Archimedes is an ancient Greek inventor, mathematician, mechanic and engineer who lived in the 3rd century BC (287 - 212 BC).

Not much is known about his life, since almost all the authors who transmitted his biography lived much later.

As a result, the biography of Archimedes is full of legends, some of which have become very popular.

Biography of Archimedes briefly

Archimedes was born in Syracuse - this is one of the first Greek colonies on the island of Sicily. It is possible that his father was the famous Phidias, an astronomer and mathematician. Putarch also reports that Archimedes was a close relative of Hiero II, tyrant of Syracuse.

Being related to such celebrities, Archimedes was able to receive an excellent education: he studied in Alexandria, which at that time was famous as a center of learning. After training, he returned to his homeland and could fully engage in science, as he did not need funds.

Inventions of Archimedes

• Archimedean screw, or auger - serves to lift and transport goods, scoop out water. This device is still used today (for example, in Egypt).
• Different types of cranes based on pulleys and levers.
• The Celestial Sphere is the world's first planetarium, with the help of which it was possible to observe the movement of the sun, moon and five planets known at that time.
• A number close to the number P is the so-called "Archimedean number": 3 1/7; Archimedes himself indicated the accuracy of the approximation of this number. To solve this problem, he built a circle into 96-gons inscribed and circumscribed around it, the sides of which he then measured.
• Discovery of the fundamental law of physics in general and hydrostatics in particular. This law is named after him and consists in the ratio of the buoyancy force, volume and weight of a body immersed in a liquid.
• Being the first theoretician of mechanics, Archimedes introduced thought experiments into it. The first such experiments were his proofs of the law of the lever and the law of Archimedes.

Defense of Syracuse

In 212, the Romans besieged Syracuse. But they could not capture the city for a long time. Legends say that a long defense was made possible thanks to one resident of the city - Archimedes. He built throwing machines that destroyed the Roman army with heavy shells, and cranes that lifted enemy ships and sank them.

Archimedean screw photo

It is also reported how Archimedes, using mirrors and shields polished to a shine, set fire to Roman ships, focusing the sun's rays on them. There is an opinion that the ships were set on fire by burning shells thrown with the help of the same throwing machines, and the focused sun's rays served only as an aim.

blocks and levers of Archimedes photo

Mentions of these weapons are just legends, however, in recent years, experiments have been carried out to establish whether these inventions could actually exist. In 2005, scientists reproduced cranes that turned out to be quite efficient. And in 1973, the Greek scientist Ioannis Sakkas set fire to a plywood model of a Roman ship using a combination of mirrors.

inventions of Archimedes defense of Syracuse photo

Nevertheless, scientists continue to doubt the existence of "mirror" weapons at Syracuse, since none of the ancient authors mentions it; information about him appeared only in the early Middle Ages - from the author of the VI century Anthimius of Trall. Despite a heroic - and ingenious - defense, Syracuse was finally subdued, and Archimedes died the same year.

There are many versions of the death of a scientist, but most of them agree that Archimedes was killed by a Roman soldier when he was sitting near his house and pondering over the drawings.

The ancient Greek physicist, mathematician and engineer Archimedes made many geometric discoveries, laid the foundations of hydrostatics and mechanics, created inventions that served as the starting point for the further development of science. Legends about Archimedes were created during his lifetime. The scientist spent several years in Alexandria, where he met and became friends with many other great scientists of his time.

The biography of Archimedes is known from the works of Titus, Polybius, Livy, Vitruvius and other authors who lived later than the scientist himself. It is difficult to assess the reliability of these data. It is known that Archimedes was born in the Greek colony of Syracuse, located on the island of Sicily. His father, presumably, was the astronomer and mathematician Phidias. also claimed that the scientist was a close relative of the kind and skillful ruler of Syracuse, Hieron II.

Probably, Archimedes spent his childhood years in Syracuse, and at a young age he went to Alexandria of Egypt to receive an education. For several centuries this city was the cultural and scientific center of the civilized Ancient World. The scientist, presumably, received his primary education from his father. After living for several years in Alexandria, Archimedes returned to Syracuse and lived there for the rest of his life.

Engineering

The scientist actively developed mechanical structures. He laid out a detailed theory of the lever and effectively used this theory in practice, although the invention itself was known before him. Including, based on knowledge in this area, he made a number of block-lever mechanisms in the port of Syracuse. These devices made it easier to lift and move heavy loads, speeding up and optimizing the work of the port. And the “Archimedean screw”, designed to scoop up water, is still used in Egypt.

The theoretical research of the scientist in the field of mechanics is of great importance. Based on the proof of the law of the lever, he began to write the work "On the equilibrium of plane figures." The proof is based on the axiom that on equal arms, equal bodies will necessarily balance. The same principle of building a book - starting with the proof of his own law - Archimedes observed when writing the work "On the Float of Bodies". This book begins with a description of the well-known law of Archimedes.

Mathematics and physics

Discoveries in the field of mathematics were the real passion of the scientist. According to Plutarch, Archimedes forgot about food and personal care when he was on the verge of another invention in this area. The main direction of his mathematical research was the problems of mathematical analysis.

Even before Archimedes, formulas were invented for calculating the areas of a circle and polygons, the volumes of a pyramid, cone and prism. But the experience of the scientist allowed him to develop general techniques for calculating volumes and areas. To this end, he improved the method of exhaustion, invented by Eudoxus of Cnidus, and brought the ability to apply it to a virtuoso level. Archimedes did not become the creator of the theory of integral calculus, but his work later became the basis for this theory.

The mathematician also laid the foundations of differential calculus. From a geometric point of view, he studied the possibilities of determining the tangent to a curved line, from a physical point of view, the speed of a body at any time. The scientist explored a flat curve known as the Archimedean spiral. He found the first generalized way to find tangents to a hyperbola, a parabola, and an ellipse. It was only in the seventeenth century that scientists were able to fully comprehend and reveal all the ideas of Archimedes that had come down to those times in his surviving writings. The scientist often refused to describe inventions in books, which is why not every formula he wrote has survived to this day.

The scientist considered the invention of formulas for calculating the surface area and volume of a ball to be a worthy discovery. If in the previous cases described, Archimedes refined and improved other people's theories, or created quick calculation methods as an alternative to existing formulas, then in the case of determining the volume and surface of a ball, he was the first. Before him, no scientist had coped with this task. Therefore, the mathematician asked to knock out a ball inscribed in a cylinder on his gravestone.

The discovery of a scientist in the field of physics was a statement that is known as the law of Archimedes. He determined that any body immersed in a liquid is subjected to pressure by a buoyant force. It is directed upwards, and in magnitude it is equal to the weight of the liquid that was displaced when the body was placed in the liquid, regardless of what the density of this liquid is.

There is a legend associated with this discovery. Once Hieron II allegedly turned to the scientist, who doubted that the weight of the crown made for him corresponded to the weight of the gold that was provided for its creation. Archimedes made two ingots of the same weight as the crown: silver and gold. Then he placed these ingots in turn in a vessel of water and noted how much its level increased. Then the scientist put the crown into the vessel and found that the water did not rise to the level to which it rose when each of the ingots was placed in the vessel. Thus it was discovered that the master had kept some of the gold for himself.

There is a myth that a bath helped Archimedes to make a key discovery in physics. While swimming, the scientist allegedly slightly raised his leg in the water, discovered that it weighs less in water, and experienced an insight. A similar situation took place, however, with its help, the scientist discovered not the law of Archimedes, but the law of the specific gravity of metals.

Astronomy

Archimedes became the inventor of the first planetarium. When moving this device, observe:

• the rising of the moon and the sun;
• the movement of the five planets;
• the disappearance of the Moon and the Sun behind the horizon line;
• phases and eclipses of the moon.

The scientist also tried to create formulas for calculating the distances to celestial bodies. Modern researchers suggest that Archimedes considered the Earth to be the center of the world. He believed that Venus, Mars and Mercury revolve around the Sun, and this entire system revolves around the Earth.

Personal life

Much less is known about the scientist's personal life than about his science. Even his contemporaries composed numerous legends about a gifted mathematician, physicist and engineer. The legend tells that one day Hieron II decided to present a multi-deck ship as a gift to Ptolemy, the king of Egypt. It was decided to name the water vessel "Syracusia", but it could not be launched in any way.

In this situation, the ruler again turned to Archimedes. From several blocks, he built a system with which the descent of a heavy vessel was made with a single movement of the hand. According to legend, during this movement, Archimedes said:

"Give me a point of support and I will move the world."

Death

In 212 BC, during the Second Punic War, Syracuse was besieged by the Romans. Archimedes actively used engineering knowledge to help his people win. So, he designed throwing machines, with the help of which the soldiers of Syracuse threw heavy stones at their opponents. When the Romans rushed to the walls of the city, hoping that they would not come under fire there, another invention of Archimedes - light close-range throwing devices - helped the Greeks to bombard them with cannonballs.

The scientist helped his compatriots in naval battles. The cranes he developed grabbed enemy ships with iron hooks, lifted them slightly, and then abruptly threw them back. Because of this, the ships turned over and crashed. For a long time, these cranes were considered something of a legend, but in 2005 a group of researchers proved the performance of such devices by reconstructing them from surviving descriptions.

Thanks to the efforts of Archimedes, the hope of the Romans to storm the city failed. Then they decided to go to the siege. In the autumn of 212 BC, the colony was taken by the Romans as a result of treason. Archimedes was killed during this incident. According to one version, he was hacked to death by a Roman soldier, whom the scientist attacked for stepping on his drawing.

Other researchers argue that the place of death of Archimedes was his laboratory. The scientist was allegedly so carried away by research that he refused to immediately follow the Roman soldier, who was ordered to take Archimedes to the commander. He pierced the old man with his sword in anger.

There are still variations of this story, but they agree that the ancient Roman politician and military leader Marcellus was extremely upset by the death of the scientist and, uniting with the citizens of Syracuse and his own subjects, gave Archimedes a magnificent funeral. Cicero, who discovered the ruined tomb of the scientist 137 years after his death, saw on it a ball inscribed in a cylinder.

Compositions

• Parabola squaring
• About the ball and cylinder
• About spirals
• About conoids and spheroids
• On the equilibrium of plane figures
• Epistle to Eratosthenes about the method
• About floating bodies
• Circle measurement
• psummit
• Stomachion
• Archimedes' bull problem
• Treatise on the construction of a bodily figure with fourteen bases near a ball
• Book of Lemmas
• A book about building a circle divided into seven equal parts
• The Book of Touching Circles

Archimedes (287 BC - 212 BC) - Greek mathematician, engineer and physicist who laid the foundations of mechanics and hydrostatics. He gained worldwide fame thanks to his discoveries in geometry.

Information about Archimedes was left by Titus Livius, Plutarch, Polybius, Cicero, Vitruvius and other ancient authors. But they all lived after the events described. Archimedes was born in Syracuse (a Greek colony in Sicily). The father of the future scientist was the astronomer and mathematician Phidias, who was closely related to the tyrant of Syracuse. The Greek inventor studied in Alexandria of Egypt - the scientific center of that time. Here he met the astronomer Conon and the philosopher Eratosthenes. Archimedes then returned to Syracuse. Here he was always surrounded by attention and never needed funds. But real events from his life are difficult to distinguish from the legends, the reason for which were his inventions.

legends

They say that the famous law of Archimedes, the scientist discovered when he took a bath. According to legend, he shouted "Eureka!" (“Found it!”) jumped out naked into the street.

According to another legend, Archimedes helped launch a heavy multi-deck ship built using a special block system. At the same time, he said: "Give me a fulcrum, and I can turn the world around."

The engineering genius of the scientist manifested itself during the siege of Syracuse during the 2nd Punic War. According to legend, Archimedes was 75 years old at that time. However, powerful throwing machines designed by an engineer bombarded the Roman troops. Special cranes grabbed Roman ships with iron hooks, lifted them up and threw them down in such a way that the ships sank. In addition, during the siege of Syracuse, the Roman fleet was burned with mirrors and polished shields that focused the sun's rays on the ships. Note that the veracity of the latest stories was confirmed by experiments.

Death of Archimedes

There are several versions of the death of Archimedes. According to the story of John Tsets, in the midst of the battle, the mathematician sat near his house and pondered over the drawings that he had made on the road sand. A Roman soldier who was running past stepped on the drawing, after which the scientist rushed at him with the words: “Do not touch the drawings!”. As a result, the soldier killed the old man in cold blood.

But Plutarch says that a soldier came to Archimedes and said that Marcellus was calling him. But the scientist asked the legionary to wait until he solved the problem. The warrior became angry and pierced the inventor with a sword. According to the third version, Archimedes personally went to Marcellus, intending to bring him instruments for measuring the Sun. But his burden attracted the attention of the Romans. The latter decided that the scientist was carrying gold or jewelry, and killed him.

Diodorus Siculus claims that Archimedes died while sketching the diagram. At this time, a Roman soldier began to drag him, but, absorbed in the diagram, the scientist said: “Get out of my diagram! Someone give me my car!" The Roman got scared and killed the old man. Nevertheless, Marcellus gave the scientist a magnificent funeral, and the killer was beheaded. Plutarch also claims that Marcellus was very angry at the death of the inventor, whom he ordered not to be touched.

Scientific activity

Plutarch notes that Archimedes was obsessed with mathematics. Being engaged in science, he even forgot about food. The Greek scientist owns research on arithmetic, geometry and algebra. In particular, it was Archimedes who found all semi-regular polyhedra, developed the theory of conic sections, and discovered a geometric method for solving cubic equations. He found a general method for calculating volumes and areas. The ideas of Archimedes became the basis of integral calculus. But he considered his best achievement to be the determination of the volume and surface of a sphere. Even at his grave, Archimedes asked to knock out a ball inscribed in a cylinder.

The inventor calculated the surface area for the segment of the ball and the coil of the so-called "Archimedes' spiral", determined the volumes of the segments of the ellipsoid, ball and paraboloid. Archimedes calculated the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. The ideas of Archimedes were significantly ahead of their time. Only in the 17th century scientists continued and developed the works of the great mathematician.

Archimedes was the first to successfully apply the lever in practice. For example, he built a lot of block-lever mechanisms that made it easier to lift and transport heavy loads. The great engineer invented the Archimedean screw (auger), designed to scoop out water. This mechanism is still used in Egypt today. Archimedes became the first theoretician of mechanics.

In addition, the Greek scientist built a planetarium, during the movement of which it was possible to observe some of the planets, the rising of the Sun, the phases and eclipses of the Moon. He believed that the system of the world is heliocentric (the planets revolve around the sun).

The following writings of Archimedes have survived to this day:

• "About Spirals";
• "Square parabola";
• "About floating bodies";
• "About the ball and the cylinder";
• "Circle measurement";
• "Psummit";
• "Stomachion";
• "The Book of Lemmas".

Archimedes created over 40 inventions. Most of them belong to the field of military technology. For example, throwing machines invented by Archimedes launched stones weighing 250 kg. Some modern researchers even claim that Archimedes invented cannons.

In honor of the brilliant scientist named:

• crater Archimedes;
• asteroid 3600 Archimedes;
• streets in Amsterdam, Dnepropetrovsk, Donetsk, Nizhny Novgorod and a square in Syracuse.

Leibniz once said that if you carefully read the writings of Archimedes, then the discoveries of geometers will no longer surprise. Indeed, some of the calculations of the Greek scientist were repeated only after 1.5 thousand years by the same Leibniz and Newton.

Karel Capek wrote the story "The Death of Archimedes". Non-canonical versions of the death of the scientist are given in the stories of Russian writers A. Bashkuev "Kill Archimedes" and O. Voron "War and Geometer".

In 1972, the cartoon "Kolya, Olya and Archimedes" was filmed about the great scientist.