Legend has it he discovered his principle of buoyancy while taking a bath. These included the fundamental principles of mechanics methods for finding the center of gravity, surface area, and volume of geometric figures the principle of buoyancy and, of course, an estimate for the value of pi.Īrchimedes was obsessed with math, often getting lost in his work and forgetting to eat. Over roughly the next 50 years, Archimedes developed most of his major theories. He was the son of astronomer Phidias and a close ally of Syracuse’s King Hieron and his son, whom he served many years.Īrchimedes traveled to Egypt to study at the Library of Alexandria at age 18 and, upon completing his work, returned to Syracuse around 263 BCE for the remainder of his life. Getty ImagesĪccording to NOVA, Archimedes was born in Syracuse-on the Mediterranean island of Sicily, not upstate New York-around 287 BCE. In this drawing, Archimedes is confronted by a Roman soldier during the takeover of Syracuse. Leonhard Euler subsequently popularized the symbol.Īs for Archimedes, you might be surprised to learn that pi was just one of his many important discoveries and inventions. House of Representatives passed a resolution recognizing March 14 as National Pi Day.Īccording to the Exploratorium, mathematicians began using π, the Greek letter pi, for the calculation’s symbol in the 1700s, starting with William Jones in 1706. The latter has become a delicious tradition among academic and office settings. The first Pi Day took place at the Exploratorium, a San Francisco–based science museum, and featured a circular parade and fruit pies. It also happens to be Albert Einstein’s birthday. Pi is essential to engineering and modern construction.Īlthough many sought to find it, the calculation of pi, which is also expressed by the fraction 22/7, is commonly credited to Greek mathematician Archimedes of Syracuse more than 2,200 years ago.Īccording to, physicist Larry Shaw founded Pi Day day in 1988, selecting March 14 because the numeric date represents the first three digits of pi (3.14). The relatively new holiday is a celebration of the mathematical calculation pi, or the infinite number representing the constant ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. It’s the most wonderful time of the year-for mathematicians, anyway.
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