Eureka! The Mathematics of Archimedes
Joseph Evan
The Greek scholar Archimedes, who lived from approximately 287 to 212 B.C. in Sicily, is best known for crying "Eureka" after one of his scientific discoveries, of which there are many. But foremost, Archimedes belongs among the greatest mathematicians of all times. In this talk you will learn why Archimedes cried "Eureka" and a few other stories from his life.
The main focus of this talk will be on Archimedes' amazing accomplishments in the area of calculus, predating the formal invention of calculus in the seventeenth century by almost 2000 years. A recent discovery of a thousand year old copy of a work of Archimedes that was considered lost, and modern technology to decipher it, greatly enhanced our knowledge of Archimedes' work. In detail, you will learn how Archimedes determined the area bounded by a parabola and a chord, and see that his proof lives up to the rigor of modern times.
While knowledge of calculus might increase the appreciation of Archimedes work, a high level of mathematical sophistication is not necessary for this talk. It is accessible from the freshman level on.
Joseph Evan is currently studying for a Phd at SUNY
Binghamton with research focused on Algebra. He received his B.A. in Mathematics
from King's College (PA) in 1995, and his M.A. from SUNY Binghamton in
1997. He is a fellow in the "Preparing Future Faculty" Program in the Department
of Mathematical Sciences.