The Great Archimedes

Contents

vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword ix Zhores Alferov Preface xi Luciano Canfora Translator’s Preface xv R. Alden Smith 1 The Adventurous Life of a Remarkable Scientist 1 2 The Mysterious Greek Letter π 15 3 “Give Me a Lever Long Enough and I Will Move the World” 23 4 Eureka! 29 5 Archimedes’ Magnum Opus: On the Sphere and the Cylinder 39 6 How Many Grains of Sand Does It Take to Fill the Universe? 51 viii TABLE OF CONTENTS 7 Archimedes as Civil and Military Engineer 59 8 An Original and Persuasive Method 69 9 Archimedes and the Poets Catullus, Horace, and Virgil 75 10 The “Myth” of Archimedes, Yesterday and Today 85 Notes 97 Bibliography 107 Index 111 ...