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Eureka Man: The Life and Legacy of Archimedes Hardcover – September 1, 2009

by Alan W. Hirshfeld (Author)

14 customer reviews

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The extraordinary genius of Archimedes—scientist, mathematician, engineer, and showman.

Many of us know little about Archimedes other than his “Eureka” exclamation upon discovering that he could immerse an object in a full tub of water and measure the spillage to determine the object’s volume. That simple observation helped establish the key principles of buoyancy that govern the flotation of hot-air balloons, boats, and denizens of the sea.

Archimedes had a profound impact on the development of mathematics and science: from square roots to the stability of ships; number systems to levers; the value of pi to the size of the universe. Yet this same cerebral man developed machines of war that held at bay the greatest army of antiquity. Ironically, Archimedes’ reputation swelled to mythic proportions in the ancient world for his feats of engineering: the hand-cranked irrigation device—commonly known as “Archimedes’ screw”—and his ingenuous use of levers, pulleys, and ropes to launch, single-handedly, a fully laden ship!

His rediscovered treatises guided nascent thinkers out of the Dark Ages and into the Renaissance. Indeed, Archimedes’ cumulative record of achievement places him among the exalted ranks of Aristotle, Leonardo da Vinci, Isaac Newton, and Albert Einstein. Eureka Man brings to life for general readers the genius of Archimedes, offering succinct and understandable explanations of some of his amazing discoveries and innovations.

Eureka Man: The Life and Legacy of Archimedes

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Product Details

Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Walker & Company (September 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0802716180
ISBN-13: 978-0802716187
Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1.1 x 8.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,065,470 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #171 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > Europe > Greece
- #5037 in Books > Science & Math > History & Philosophy
- #130970 in Books > History

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

Hybrid book

By a reader on December 31, 2009

Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase

This is really like two different books in one. The first part, that covers the math of Archimedes and his other accomplishments, is rather dry and the author almost seems bored by it. The second part, which focuses on the Archimedes Palimpsest (also covered in a recent book titled the Archimedes Codex), feels as if it were written by a different author, someone who was genuinely excited about his subject and is expressing that in his writing style. So if you find yourself getting bogged down in part I, at least give part II a try before giving up entirely.

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

Both a Biography and an Intriguing Story

By George Poirier on October 26, 2009

Format: Hardcover

This book's subtitle, "The Life and Legacy of Archimedes", actually understates what the book fully contains. In addition to a biography of Archimedes and a summary of his incredible legacy, the author has also included the remarkably tumultuous journey of the so-called Archimedes Palimpsest: a book containing faint reproductions of some of Archimedes's writings. These words and diagrams, of a mathematical nature, were partly erased from their parchment in medieval times so that the same parchment could be re-used for other texts. Fortunately, modern technology was successfully applied to restore the legibility of the original content.

Only about half this book focuses on Archimedes, his incredible accomplishments and what little is known of his personal life. The remainder contains a short history of writing, of writing implements and techniques, of the repeated transcribing of ancient texts over centuries and millennia, and, of course, the story of the Archimedes Palimpsest. The writing style is clear, authoritative, very accessible and quite captivating. Although any general reader can enjoy this book, it would likely be relished the most by science/math buffs as well as those fascinated by how very ancient writings have made their way into the modern world.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

A lot of history, a little math

By Amazon Customer on November 11, 2009

Format: Hardcover

Alan Hirschfeld is a professor of physics by day, but does a good job of moonlighting as a historian for this examination of Archimedes and his work.
Reaching back over 2200 years to the Sicily Archimedes knew, he creates the environment in which the mathematician lived and worked. During a brief period of peace and prosperity for his city of Syracuse, Archimedes created the basis for geometry, mathematically defied pii, and the mechanism of leavers (and more!). He was heralded as a genius by his scientific contemporys and as a savior for his inventive weapons and defense mechanisms by his countrymen. The legend most people know is of him jumping out of a bathtub in the excitement of discovering the concept of water displaced equal to the weight of the submerged object. This arose from him devising a way to detect base metals substituted for gold in a commissioned piece for the king.
Part One describes what is known of the man, the era in which he lived, and his work. The reader is guided through the mathematical theroms with a light guiding hand, and a clear style that the non-mathematician will appreciate.
Part Two traces the tract of this visionary's work to the modern day. Along the journey we learn the microeconomics of papyrus scroll production, its relatively short lifespan, and the industry of manuscript copying that kept Archimedes work alive. In the mid 9th century, under the direction of a Byzantine librarian named Leo, his work is compiled from separate scrolls into three parchment codex (early book forms). Already over 1000 years after the life of Archimedes, these three codex form the root of all subsequent copies of his work. Three hundred years later, one of the codex is erased and overwritten with an orthodox liturgical guide to Easter services.Read more ›

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

Eureka man: the life and legacy of Archimedes

By William P. Palmer on January 2, 2013

Format: Hardcover

Review of Eureka man: the life and legacy of Archimedes by Alan Hirshfeld.

CITATION: Hirshfeld, A. W. (2009). Eureka man: the life and legacy of Archimedes. New York: Walker and Company.

Reviewer: Dr W. P. Palmer

`Eureka man: the life and legacy of Archimedes' makes interesting reading. However don't expect a biography with full biographical details. The fact is that only a limited amount of information is available about Archimedes' life or as Hirshfeld states `the face he presented to his fellow citizens of Syracuse- will always lie in shadow,...' (p. 13). We learn that Archimedes was born `around 287BC' (p. 16) and that he died in the Roman siege of Syracuse in 212BC (p. 99). The first part of the book (Chapters 1-6) covers the little that is known of Archimedes' life. There is also information about the geography and history of Syracuse and its wars with Rome. Also there are details of Archimedes relationship with the kings of Syracuse, his inventions, including his military inventions and his mastery of Syracuse's defenses, with some information about his writings.

The second part of the book presents us with a history of the books that Archimedes wrote as well as how some particular works (his treatises) were discovered underneath the writings of early Christian authors as they had used an existing small book (a codex) made of parchment. Parchment was made from calf-skin and was in short supply so it was often cheaper to re-use existing books. This book (Archimedes' Palimpsest) disappeared and reappeared several times in history and this account provides the major part of the book (Chapters 7-14).

The final chapter (the appendix) attempts to investigate two myths about Archimedes.Read more ›

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

Easy read

A good primer on the man and his life

Published 2 months ago by David A. Frazier

... knowledge about some very specific details that I am pretty sure...

This book is very interesting and the writer have a lot knowledge about some very specific details that I am pretty sure that was hard to find it. Read more

Published 5 months ago by Luciana Goncalves

An excellent overview of the Archimedean palimpsest!

I thought, having been fairly familiar with both Dijksterhuis' and Netz' and Noel's book on respectively the mathematics of Archimedes and the discovery and analysis of the... Read more

Published 19 months ago by D. Smith

Outstanding history of Archimedes and his legacy

This book was outstanding in describing the mathematical importance of Archimedes. It is also a detective mystery in that it shows the fragility of knowledge and how Archimedes'... Read more

Published 23 months ago by Greg Lennes

The argument against IP :)

The ideas and engines of Archimedes have inspired centuries of innovation. Despite the years, religious and scientific tumults and crimes of history, Archimedes has lessons to... Read more

Published on February 21, 2012 by Oroboros

Biography of a Man and a Manuscript

I am a big fan of Hirshfeld's book on Michael Faraday, The Electric Life of Michael Faraday. I hoped for an equally excellent experience with this biography of Archimedes. Read more

Published on April 19, 2011 by Timothy Haugh

Excellent, except title somewhat misleading

The short version:

Eureka Man is, very broadly, three stories: The man and his milieu (mostly his milieu - see closing paragraph), his contributions and influence, and... Read more

Published on April 14, 2011 by Libris Vermis

An untold story of the rediscovery of antiquity`s greatest mind

I have always had a fascination for ancient history`s famed constructor of mechanical marvels and war machines. Read more

Published on August 26, 2010 by Jason

Eureka Man found skinny

Not very much is known about the life of Archimedes, and when you finish this book it is plain that Alan Hirschfeld did not discover more. Read more

Published on October 28, 2009 by J. W. Friend