Archimedes

I kind of have a nerd crush on Archimedes.  I know that sounds weird, but he's just awesome.  I saw a NOVA video about him when I was in college and that's all it took.  He's one of those guys everyone should know about because his really is just that cool.  You probably already know him, you just don't realize it.  He's the guy who jumped out of the tub yelling "Eureka!" and ran naked through the streets to share his bath time epiphany with the king.  That story leaves an impression for perhaps the wrong reason.  I think we're really supposed to remember the relationship between volume and displacement...  When he wasn't streaking, Archimedes created and redesigned some stellar war machines to defeat many Roman attacks on the Greeks.  Oh, and he's also the guy who discovered pi.  Which is quite elegant and just beautiful...  Sorry if those adjectives make you non-math folks cringe.

Below are two 8 minute clips from the NOVA video.  Mostly it is about Archimedes and a manuscript of his Methods which was written over, lost, and rediscovered but it also shares the stories I just mentioned, including some great examples.  If you are really interested, check out the entire video by clicking the link below the embedded screen.

Still wondering why do I love this video so much?  It's not just my love of Archimedes though that tips the scale considerably.  It's because it shows you the history of math, that math HAS a history.  Math is one of the subjects that so often gets reduced to just formulas, theorems, proofs, etc.  But at one point, all those things we take for granted as being "known", well, they were "unknown".  Someone had to discover them!  To me, that makes math so much less formidable, inspiring me to share little histories like this with students I tutor.  Not only do they make an impression, but my students know what pi is -- not just that it's 3.1415..., but what that number MEANS and why it matters because people love stories and remember them.  I'm thankful for my professors who saw the value in the story and shared it with me.  It's a lesson I love to pass on and I hope you will, too!


Disclose.tv - Infinite Secrets: The Genius of Archimedes Pt.1/6 Video



Disclose.tv - Infinite Secrets: The Genius of Archimedes Pt.2/6 Video