Archimedes : What Did He Do Besides Cry Eureka?

Classroom Resource Materials

by Sherman Stein

Many people have heard two things about Archimedes: he was the greatest mathematician of antiquity, and he ran naked from his bath crying 'Eureka!'. However, few people are familiar with the actual accomplishments upon which his enduring reputation rests, and it is the aim of this book to shed light upon this matter. Archimedes' ability to achieve so much with the few mathematical tools at his disposal was astonishing. He made fundamental advances in the fields of geometry, mechanics, and hydrostatics. No great mathematical expertise is required of the reader, and the book is well illustrated with over 100 diagrams. It will prove fascinating to students and professional mathematicians alike.

Genres: Science, Mathematics, Nonfiction, History, Biography

164 pages, Paperback

First published June 15, 1999

Reviews

[Mary-Jean Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short but dense book on Archimedes' mathematical discoveries. Although I have a background in math, I found much of it challenging: which was good! But I would have liked to see the answers to the practice problems as there were some that I couldn't solve. The book was intriguing though and I enjoyed it overall and learned a lot.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a nice little book dedicated to the life of my favorite mathematician, Archimedes (287-212 BC). The book uses only high school mathematics and has oodles of illustrations to demonstrate some of Archimedes' greatest discoveries, such as the center of gravity and the volume and surface area of a sphere.