Book description
At a moment of great discovery, one Big Idea can change the world...
The greatest mathematician of his time, Archimedes transformed the
development of early maths. But it is his revolutionary insights into
mechanical science for which he is so revered, inventing the fulcrum
and lever, pulley and water pump, among other technological advances
that changed the course of history.
Archimedes & the Fulcrum is a captivating and easily
digestible investigation into the legendary life and work of the
greatest mathematical mind the world had seen, up until his tragic
death at the hands of the Romans. Single-handedly launching a 4,000
ton ship, calculating volumes and perfect spirals, laying the
foundations of theoretical physics and inventing military weaponry as
a seventy-year-old, Archimedes' Big Idea was so much more than his
famed leap from his bath, shouting 'Eureka!'
The Big Idea series is a fascinating look at the greatest
advances in our scientific history, and at the men and women who made
these fundamental breakthroughs.
Paul Strathern was born in London and studied philosophy at Trinity
College, Dublin. He was a lecturer at Kingston University where he
taught philosophy and mathematics. He is a Somerset Maugham
prize-winning novelist of
A Season in Abyssinia
, as well as four other novels. He is also the author of the
Philosophers in 90 Minutes
series
.
He wrote
Mendeleyev's Dream
which was shortlisted for the Aventis Science Book Prize,
Dr.
Strangelove's Game: A History of Economic Genius
,
The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance
,
Napoleon in Egypt
and most recently,
The Artist, The Philosopher and The Warrior
,
which details the convergence of three of Renaissance Italy's most
brilliant minds: Leonardo Da Vinci, Niccolo Machiavelli and Cesare
Borgia. He lives in London and has three grandchildren.
