These include a device for raising water, known as the Archimedes Screw, which is still used in developing countries today. Referring to Archimedes as “the most famous mathematician and inventor of ancient Greece”, the Encyclopaedia Britannica goes on to highlight important discoveries made by Archimedes. “Archimedes’ mathematical proofs and presentation exhibit great boldness and originality of thought on the one hand and extreme rigour on the other.” This point is further developed in the Encylopaedia Britannica, where it is stated that: Jeremy Dummett, in his recent book ‘Syracuse City of Legends’ (I.B.Tauris, 2010), writes about Archimedes’ mathematical work: “It became hugely influential, making Archimedes the founding father of modern mathematics, a position comparable to that of Plato in philosophy.” Although his mathematical work was not well known in his lifetime, it received wider recognition when copies of his work were circulated centuries later. Without question Archimedes of Syracuse was Sicilian had he been alive today he would have been Italian.Īrchimedes was a thinker and much of his life was devoted to mathematical thought. Today, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with probably the richest history of anywhere in Sicily. Indeed, it was dubbed “the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of them all” by Cicero. During Archimedes’ lifetime, Syracuse was a Greek city state and at its height was a leading power in Europe. He lived in the city for most of his life and died there 75 years later, killed by a Roman centurian. In fact, Archimedes was born 23 centuries ago in Syracuse (Siracusa in Italian) in South East Sicily.
But how many people realise that he was Sicilian? That was Archimedes, considered by many to be the greatest mathematical mind of the ancient world. Have you heard the one about the Greek boffin who leapt from his bath and ran naked through the streets of antiquity, shouting “Eureka! Eureka!”- “I’ve found it! I’ve found it!”
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