13 OCT 2013 by ideonexus
The Glory of the Library of Alexandria
Alexander had already devoted considerable sums to finance the enquiries of Aristotle, but Ptolemy I was the first person to make a permanent endowment of science. He set up a foundation in Alexandria which was formerly dedicated to the Muses, the Museum {151}of Alexandria. For two or three generations the scientific work done at Alexandria was extraordinarily good. Euclid, Eratosthenes who measured the size of the earth and came within fifty miles of its true diameter, Apollonius who wrote o... 1 
notes
notesThe star scientists and inventions that came out of it's first century.
25 JUN 2013 by ideonexus
T T T=<em>N</em>
Occasionally he made a comment similar to Archimedes' "Eureka!" about a discovery, as he did when he wrong T T T=N. This is part of number theory, the field that Gauss called the Queen of Mathematics. A triangular number T is a number that you can get by adding up a string of consecutive whole numbers beginning with one. The number 6 is triangular because you can get it by adding 1 2 3, and 15 is triangular because you can get it by adding 1 2 3 4 5. The number 5,050, the sum of the first 100...Folksonomies: mathematics
Folksonomies: mathematics
1 notes
notesGauss' beautiful mathematical discovery.
13 APR 2013 by ideonexus
Today's Problems Are Too Complex for Individuals to Solve
The human race has had a long and romantic tradition of crediting great breakthroughs to the tribulations of single individuals: Einstein, Archimedes, Benjamin Franklin, Van Gogh, da Vinci—the list is lon^g. Interestingly, every story about an epiphany is similar: An eclectic individual attempts to solve a complex problem that has stumped humankind for centuries, when suddenly he stumbles on an "aha!" moment. At first his revelation is rebuked by everyone, and then, over time, the inventor ... 1 notes
notesHistory is filled with the names of inventors who made great discoveries, but it took teams to invent the Internet, Cell Phone, and Semi-Conductor.
26 MAR 2013 by ideonexus
Mathematics is More Popular Than Music and Art
Archimedes will be remembered when Aeschylus is forgotten, because
languages die and mathematical ideas do not. 'Immortality' may be a silly
word, but probably a mathematician has the best chance of whatever it may
mean."
[* * *]
A mathematician, like a painter or a poet, is a maker of patterns.
If his patterns are more permanent than theirs, it is because they are
made with ideas.
[* * *]
The mathematician's patterns, like the painter's or the poet's,
must be b... 1 notes
notesMathematical ideas are more permanent in culture than artistic ones, and more people play in mathematical games without realizing it.
21 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
Archimedes Discovers How to Measure Volume
Hieron asked Archimedes to discover, without damaging it, whether a certain crown or wreath was made of pure gold, or if the goldsmith had fraudulently alloyed it with some baser metal. While Archimedes was turning the problem over in his mind, he chanced to be in the bath house. There, as he was sitting in the bath, he noticed that the amount of water that was flowing over the top of it was equal in volume to that part of his body that was immersed. He saw at once a way of solving the proble...Folksonomies: discovery measurement
Folksonomies: discovery measurement
1 notes
notesAsked to measure the volume of a crown, he discovers it will displace water in a tub.
08 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
The Marvelous Invention of Indian Arithematic
It is India that gave us the ingenious method of expressing all numbers by means of ten symbols, each symbol receiving a value of position as well as an absolute value; a profound and important idea which appears so simple to us now that we ignore its true merit. But its very simplicity and the great ease which it has lent to computations put our arithmetic in the first rank of useful inventions; and we shall appreciate the grandeur of the achievement the more when we remember that it escaped...Folksonomies: mathematics base-10
Folksonomies: mathematics base-10
Quoting Pierre-Simon Laplace.
