The Works of Archimedes: Edited in Modern Notation with Introductory Chapters

by Archimedes, Thomas L. Heath

Overview

Archimedes lived in the third century BC, and died in the siege of Syracuse. Together with Euclid and Apollonius, he was one of the three great mathematicians of the ancient world, credited with astonishing breadth of thought and brilliance of insight. His practical inventions included the water-screw for irrigation, catapults and grappling devices for military defence on land and sea, compound pulley systems for moving large masses, and a model for explaining solar eclipses. According to Plutarch however, Archimedes viewed his mechanical inventions merely as 'diversions of geometry at play'. His principal focus lay in mathematics, where his achievements in geometry, arithmetic and mechanics included work on spheres, cylinders and floating objects. This classic 1897 text celebrates Archimedes' achievements. Part 1 places Archimedes in his historical context and presents his mathematical methods and discoveries, while Part 2 contains translations of his complete known writings.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781108006156
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	09/24/2009
Series:	Cambridge Library Collection - Mathematics
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	520
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.30(d)

Table of Contents

Part I. Introduction: 1. Archimedes; 2. Manuscripts and principle editions; 3. Relation of Archimedes to his predecessors; 4. Arithmetic in Archimedes; 5. On the problem known as neuseis; 6. Cubic equations; 7. Anticipations by Archimedes of the integral calculus; 8. The terminology of Archimedes; Part II. The Works of Archimedes: 1. On the sphere and cylinder; 2. Measurement of a circle; 3. On conoids and spheroids; 4. On spirals; 5. On the equilibrium of planes; 6. The sand-reckoner; 7. Quadrature of the parabola; 8. On floating bodies; 9. Book of lemmas; 10. The cattle-problem.