阿基米德的國籍, 貢獻,外觀(文字描述)。(英文資料)

Archimedes (Greek: Ἀρχιμήδης; c. 287 BC – 212 BC) was a Hellenistic mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and philosopher, born on the seaport colony of Syracuse, Magna Graecia, what is now Sicily. Many consider him one of the greatest, if not the greatest, mathematicians in antiquity. Carl Friedrich Gauss, himself frequently called the most influential mathematician of all time, modestly claimed that Archimedes was one of the three epoch-making mathematicians (the others being Isaac Newton and Ferdinand Eisenstein). Apart from his fundamental theoretical contributions to maths, Archimedes also shaped the fields of physics and practical engineering, and has been called "The greatest scientist ever".[1] He was a relative of the Hiero monarchy, which was the ruling family of Syracuse, a seaport kingdom. King Hiero II, who was said to be Archimedes's uncle, commissioned him to design and fabricate a new class of ships for his navy, which were crucial for the preservation of the ruling class in Syracuse. Hiero had promised large caches of grain to the Romans in the north in return for peace. Faced with war when unable to present the promised amount, Hiero commissioned Archimedes to develop a large luxury/supply/war barge in order to serve the changing requirements of his navy. It is rumored that the Archimedes Screw was actually an invention of happenstance, as he needed a tool to remove bilge water. The ship, named Syracusia, after its nation, was huge, and its construction caused stupor in the Greek world.[2]

He is credited with many inventions and discoveries, some of which we still use today, like his Archimedes screw. He was famous for his compound pulley, a system of pulleys used to lift heavy loads such as ships. He made several war machines for his patron and friend King Hiero II. He did a lot of work in geometry, which included finding the surface areas and volumes of solids accurately. The work that has made Archimedes famous is his theory of floating bodies. He laid down the laws of flotation and developed the famous Archimedes' principle[3].

Archimedes (Greek: Ἀρχιμήδης; c. 287 BC – 212 BC) was a Hellenistic mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and philosopher, born on the seaport colony of Syracuse, Magna Graecia, what is now Sicily. Many consider him one of the greatest, if not the greatest, mathematicians in antiquity. Carl Friedrich Gauss, himself frequently called the most influential mathematician of all time, modestly claimed that Archimedes was one of the three epoch-making mathematicians (the others being Isaac Newton and Ferdinand Eisenstein). Apart from his fundamental theoretical contributions to maths, Archimedes also shaped the fields of physics and practical engineering, and has been called "The greatest scientist ever".[1] He was a relative of the Hiero monarchy, which was the ruling family of Syracuse, a seaport kingdom. King Hiero II, who was said to be Archimedes's uncle, commissioned him to design and fabricate a new class of ships for his navy, which were crucial for the preservation of the ruling class in Syracuse. Hiero had promised large caches of grain to the Romans in the north in return for peace. Faced with war when unable to present the promised amount, Hiero commissioned Archimedes to develop a large luxury/supply/war barge in order to serve the changing requirements of his navy. It is rumored that the Archimedes Screw was actually an invention of happenstance, as he needed a tool to remove bilge water. The ship, named Syracusia, after its nation, was huge, and its construction caused stupor in the Greek world.[2]

敘拉古的數學家──阿基米德

阿基米德 (Archimedes, 約公元前287 - 公元前212)，生於希臘的敘拉古，父親是位天文學家。阿基米德從小就受到良好的教育，年青時曾赴亞歷山大學習數學。

皇冠的體積
有一次，敘拉古的亥厄洛國王叫金匠製造一頂純金的皇冠，卻懷疑金匠隱匿了其中一些金子。金匠矢口否認，而且證實皇冠的重量與國王所給金子重量相等。國王一時束手無策，便請阿基米德幫忙。

阿基米德日思夜想著解決的方法。他知道即使不同質料的重量相同，其體積是不一樣的，所以可從皇冠的體積，來鑑定皇冠是否由純金所製成，但卻苦無求得皇冠體積的方法。

一次，阿基米德在浴盆洗澡時，看到水從盤中徐徐流出，因而悟到可以用排水法來求出皇冠的體積。若把皇冠放入盛滿水的盤中，所排出的水的體積，便是皇冠的體積了。就這樣，阿基米德為國王解決了這個疑難，證明金匠的確在皇冠中摻入了白銀。

研究碩果
阿基米德的研究領域相當廣泛，包括：數學、力學、物理學、天文學等。以下是其中兩項幾何學的研究成果：

圓周率π
阿基米德採用現稱「割圓術」的方法，求得圓周率π界乎 和 之間，即：

球體和柱體的面積和表面面積
除了平面幾何外，阿基米德對立體幾何也有相當的研究，他指出：「以球體的大圓為底、直徑為高製作一個圓柱，圓柱的體積和表面面積分別是球體體積和表面面積的 。」即：

體積 = V1 體積 = V2
表面面積 = A1 表面面積 = A2


我們可以運用第 28 章《續面積和體積》的公式，驗證阿基米德的說法。

不要弄壞我的圖
「不要弄壞我的圖」──這是阿基米德最後的一句話。

公元 212 年，羅馬人攻入敘拉古。相傳當時阿基米德正在研究數學，一名羅馬兵闖進了阿基米德的家中，並踩在幾何圖形上。阿基米德並沒有注意對方是誰，便喊叫說：「不要弄壞我的圖」，結果被那名士兵殺死了。

Archimedes (Greek: Ἀρχιμήδης; c. 287 BC – 212 BC) was a Hellenistic mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and philosopher, born on the seaport colony of Syracuse, Magna Graecia, what is now Sicily. Many consider him one of the greatest, if not the greatest, mathematicians in antiquity. Carl Friedrich Gauss, himself frequently called the most influential mathematician of all time, modestly claimed that Archimedes was one of the three epoch-making mathematicians (the others being Isaac Newton and Ferdinand Eisenstein). Apart from his fundamental theoretical contributions to maths, Archimedes also shaped the fields of physics and practical engineering, and has been called "The greatest scientist ever". He was a relative of the Hiero monarchy, which was the ruling family of Syracuse, a seaport kingdom. King Hiero II, who was said to be Archimedes's uncle, commissioned him to design and fabricate a new class of ships for his navy, which were crucial for the preservation of the ruling class in Syracuse. Hiero had promised large caches of grain to the Romans in the north in return for peace. Faced with war when unable to present the promised amount, Hiero commissioned Archimedes to develop a large luxury/supply/war barge in order to serve the changing requirements of his navy. It is rumored that the Archimedes Screw was actually an invention of happenstance, as he needed a tool to remove bilge water. The ship, named Syracusia, after its nation, was huge, and its construction caused stupor in the Greek world.

He is credited with many inventions and discoveries, some of which we still use today, like his Archimedes screw. He was famous for his compound pulley, a system of pulleys used to lift heavy loads such as ships. He made several war machines for his patron and friend King Hiero II. He did a lot of work in geometry, which included finding the surface areas and volumes of solids accurately. The work that has made Archimedes famous is his theory of floating bodies. He laid down the laws of flotation and developed the famous Archimedes' principle.