Archimedes & the fulcrum - Paul Strathern

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.