Archimedes - Great Lives of the Ancient World by Nicholas Nicastro Hardcover

About the Book

Galileo, Leonardo, Newton, and Tesla revered him: Archimedes of Syracuse--an engineer who single-handedly defied the world's most powerful army and a mathematician who knew more in 212 BCE than all of Europe would know for the next seventeen centuries. In this bold reimagining, modern polymath Nicholas Nicastro shines a new light on Archimedes' life and work. Far from the aloof, physically inept figure of historical myth, Archimedes is revealed to be an ambitious, combative, and fiercely competitive man. A genius who challenged an empire, Archimedes emerges in this book as the world's first fully modern scientist--millennia before his intellectual descendants transformed our world.

Book Synopsis

A bold reimagining of the Greek mathematician's singular life as a truly modern scientist.

Galileo, Leonardo, Newton, and Tesla revered him: Archimedes of Syracuse--an engineer who single-handedly defied the world's most powerful army and a mathematician who knew more in 212 BCE than all of Europe would know for the next seventeen centuries. In this bold reimagining, modern polymath Nicholas Nicastro shines a new light on Archimedes' life and work. Far from the aloof, physically inept figure of historical myth, Archimedes is revealed to be an ambitious, combative, and fiercely competitive man. A genius who challenged an empire, Archimedes emerges in this book as the world's first fully modern scientist--millennia before his intellectual descendants transformed our world.

Review Quotes

"A lively biography of Archimedes . . . driven by a desire both to make Archimedes an exception in ancient science and to link him to the modern era."-- "Times Literary Supplement"

"The people and places around Archimedes--and the genius of the man himself--come back to life in technicolor in this marvelously vivid biography. I especially enjoyed Nicastro's comments on ancient historical sources. He retells familiar stories with verve and fresh insight and provides quite a few laughs along the way."--Steven Strogatz, author of 'Infinite Powers'

"An enthralling account of the wider cultural context in which Archimedes lived and worked. Nicastro is particularly good at debunking some of the myths surrounding one of the greatest figures in the history of science."--David Acheson, author of 'The Calculus Story' and 'The Spirit of Mathematics'

"An engaging account of the life and legacy of Archimedes of Syracuse. . . . Nicastro presents Archimedes's ideas and achievements with admirable clarity."--Liba Taub, director and curator of the Whipple Museum of the History of Science, University of Cambridge

About the Author

Nicholas Nicastro is a novelist and science writer with articles in the New York Times, New York Observer, and others. His books include Circumference: Eratosthenes and the Ancient Quest to Measure the Globe.