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Archimedes, the Greek mathematician was born in Syracuse, Sicily in 290 B.C and sadly died in Syracuse at the hands of a Roman soldier during its sacking in 212 B.C.
He studied in Alexandria but spent much of his life in Syracuse which is located in the South East corner of Sicily and along with the island of Ortygia forms a natural harbor where many of Archimedes activities were based.
He was regarded as an eccentric and has been described as the archetype for the 'absent minded professor'.
It is not known whether he was married or had any children.
His father an astronomer named Phidias may have been related to Hieron II, the king of Syracuse.
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King Hieron II directed Archimedes to develop a range of military machines to help defend Syracuse. These included a range of pulley and lever devices, and possibly a water screw.
He initiated the ideas around static mechanics, hydrostatics, and the measurement of the volume or density of an object known as pycnometry. He is at times called the "father of integral calculus."
He wrote many works on plane equilibriums, the parabola, the sphere and cylinder, spirals, conoids and spheroids, floating bodies, circle measurements of a circle and other mathematical concepts.
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Biography
Influences
Achievements and Awards
Publications of Importance
Inventions or Contributions to Knowledge
Other Areas of Interest
Internet Links of Significance
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It is believed he was taught by the followers of Euclid while in Alexandria.
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Archimedes is regarded, along with Isaac Newton and Carl Friedrich Gauss, as one the greatest mathematician and scientist of history.
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None of Archimedes papers have survived.
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http://dmoz.org/Kids_and_Teens/School_Time/Math/Mathematicians/Archimedes/
http://www.mcs.drexel.edu/~crorres/Archimedes/contents.html
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