Abstract

What classical scholar is not familiar with one or more anecdotes of Archimedes' life? Few will not be able to recall the story of how this Greek mathematician invented a method for determining the volume of an object with an irregular shape while taking a bath and, excited by his new discovery, took to the streets naked crying, "Eureka!" Few will be ignorant of how Archimedes single-handedly repelled Marcellus' attack on Syracuse with his war engines and eventually was killed by a Roman soldier during the sack of the city while still working on one of his theorems. Yet, classicists' acquaintance with and interest in Archimedes does not seem to go much beyond this summary knowledge of these few anecdotes.