Infinite Secrets AIRING SEPTEMBER 30, 2003 c. 287 B.C. Born in Syracuse,Sicily. c. 269 B.C. Trav els to Egypt to study at Al e x a n d ri a . In vents the Archi m e d e s ’ Who Was Archimedes? Sc r ew, a devi c e used to pump water out of ships. Archimedes of Syracuse was one of the the greater the amount of water that over- c. 263 B.C. Returns to Syracuse. greatest mathematicians in histor y. He was flo wed the bath. Up o n making this discover y, 263Ð216 B.C. Develops most of his major also a great inventor and scientist. Most he is said to have run naked through the theories, in c luding the fundamental pr inciples of mechanics;and of what we know about Archimedes today str eets of Syrac u s e , shouting “E u re k a ! ”( G re e k methods for finding the center of comes from his writings and those of his for “I have found it!”). gravity, surface area,and volume of geometric figures.Also derives contemporaries. When the Romans invaded S yracuse in estimate for the value of pi; Born in Syracuse,Sicily (then part of 214 B.C., Archimedes invented “engines of discovers the principle of buoyancy; Greece), in about 287 B.C., Archimedes war” to defend the city, including cranes to and creates a system capable of expressing large numbers. traveled to Egypt at the age of 18 to study dr op ro ck s , claws to lift ships from the water, 216 B.C. The King of Syracuse, King Hiero, at the great library of Alexandria. Upon and machines to fire wooden missiles. He dies,and is succeeded by his son, completing his studies, he returned to also devised a system of mirrors that focused Hieronymos. 215 B.C. Hieronymos is assassinated.Civil Syracuse, where he spent the remainder of the sun’s light on enemy ships, setting the war erupts in Syracuse. his life. ships on fire. 214Ð212 B.C. Ro mans try to invade Syracuse but Archimedes was obsessed with mathe- After the Romans successfully captured th e y are held off by Archimedes’ war machines,such as Archimedes’ matics. He would become so involved in the city in 212 B.C., Archimedes was killed Claw and the catapult. his work that he would forget to eat. He by a Roman soldier after he allegedly told 212 B.C. Romans invade Syracuse. During the invasion,Archimedes is killed scribbled notes and figures on any available the soldier,“Don’t disturb my circles”—a by a Roman solider. surface. When outside, he used a stick to reference to a series of figures Archimedes A.D. 300 Scribes copy Archimedes’ writings draw on the ground; when inside, he used had outlined in the sand. As he wished, onto parchment. c. A.D. 1000 Archimedes’manuscript containing his finger to trace figures in the olive oil on Archimedes’ tombstone is marked with the The Method ofMechanical Theorems his skin. figure of a sphere enclosed by a cylinder and is copied onto vel lum sheets and Out of this obsession came many of his the 2:3 ratio of their volumes. bo u n d between wooden boards. greatest theories and proofs, such as the This text tells how Archimedes Archimedes Resources developed his mathematical means for approximating square roots, the theorems. value of pi (the ratio of a circle’s circumfer- Infinite Secrets. c. A.D. 1200 A monk reuses Arch i m e d e s ’m a n u- sc ri p t for a prayer book,creating the ence to its diameter), and the creation of a WGBH Boston Video, 2004. Pal i m p s e s t . This becomes the onl y way to describe very large numbers. He also Find out more about Archimedes’ life, his co p y of Archimedes’manuscript to work, and the Palimpsest in the NOVA survive to the present day. devised methods for calculating areas and C. 1400Ð1800 The Archimedes’ Palimpsest is volumes 2,000 years before the invention program that airs September 30, 2003. stored in a monastery in the of calculus. In addition, Archimedes proved Call (800) 949-8670 or order through Judaean desert. the WGBH Shop Web site at: Late 1600s Calculus is invented. that the volume of a sphe r e is two - t h i r ds Early 1800s The Palimpsest is moved from the th e volume of a circumscribed c ylinder. www.shop.wgbh.org mon a s t e r y to a librar y in Old He cons i d e r ed this proof his greatest Je ru s a l e m . 1846 Constantine Tischendorf, a German accomplishment and even requested that a Visit NOVA’s companion Web site scholar, discovers the Archimedes’ representation of a sphere inside a cylinder to learn more about Archimedes at: Palimpsest in Constantinople. www.pbs.org/nova/archimedes/ 19 0 6 The Danish scho l a r , Jo han Lud w i g be inscribed on his tomb. Heiberg hears about the Pal i m p s e s t , Archimedes was well known for his tra v els to Cons t a n t i n o p l e , an d in ven t i o ns and scientific discoveri e s . The most attempts to tran s c r ibe the book using nothing but a magnifying glass. famous of these were the Archimedes’ Screw 1908Ð1998 The Palimpsest disappears. (a device for raising water that is still used in 1998 The Archimedes Palimpsest crop irrigation and sewage treatment plants resurfaces in Paris and sells for $2 million at a Christie’s of New to d a y) and Arch i m e d e s ’p rinciple of buoya n c y. York auction. Legend has it that he discover ed this prin c i p l e 19 9 9 Ð p r ese n t The Palimpsest is loaned to the Wal t e r s Art Gallery in Baltimore, while in the bath, where he noticed that the Maryland.Restoration and mo r e of his body he submerged in the water, translation of the manuscript begin. A R C H I M E D E S HANDOUT ¥ PAGE 1 OF 6 W W W . P B S . O R G / N O V A / A R C H I M E D E S.