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Friday, March 14. 2014

Archimedes


I had always believed Archimedes spent a certain amount of time running through the streets of Syracuse shouting "Eureka, I have found it!"  Perhaps believed is a strong word, after all, it was so long ago it's unlikely anyone knows for sure just what occurred.  What we know for sure is Archimedes was a great mathematician and provided the world great insights leading to the progress of humankind.  


This breakdown of what may likely be the real story surrounding Archimedes' discovery of the measurement of volume is actually more interesting, though less entertaining, than the original.  The site isn't too bad, either, even if it does have a slight pro-AGW slant to some of the articles. 

Posted by Bulldog in History at 11:06 | Comments (4) | Trackbacks (0)

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The Romans were great engineers but their chief connection to basic science is said to have been the Roman who chopped off Archimedes head after Syracuse fell.
#1 Mike_K (Link) on 2014-03-14 11:25 (Reply)
The history of the engineering and science seems to be a little more complicated than I was taught. http://idontknowbut.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-forgotten-revolution-by-lucio-russo.html My take on Russo's book (review at the link) is that the Roman connection to science was pretty much along the lines of what Mike says, and their connection to engineering was largely restricted to managing engineering-savvy slaves.
#2 James the lesser (Link) on 2014-03-14 20:39 (Reply)
I've been fascinated with the Antikythera Mechanism for years. Two millenia before its' time. What a tragedy that the knowledge it represented was lost to history through some tragedy no doubt; plague, pestilence, famine, war; whatever. Man could conceivably been on the moon in the BC era had their technology trajectory continued uninterrupted...

http://www.antikythera-mechanism.gr/
#3 Tom Armstrong on 2014-03-15 12:43 (Reply)
Archimedes came out of the baths saying "Eureka!" Whereupon the others said, "You don't smell so great yourself."
#4 BlogDog on 2014-03-15 13:41 (Reply)

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