Father of Mathematics

Archimedes was the world's greatest mathematician but for centuries few people realised his talents. Archemedes was born around 287BC in Syracuse on the island of Sicily.

Althogh Sicily is now a part of Italy, it was at that time a part of Greece. The Greeks and their neighbours, the Romans of Italy, were fighting for dominance.

As Archimedes was a friend of King Hieron II, the ruler of Syracuse, he took part in the wars against the Romans.

The young Archimedes showed exceptional skills as a mathematician and engineer. Not only did he prove that the surface area of any sphere is four times that of its greatest circle, he also worked out the steps to calculate the volume of a sphere.

When King Hieron was presented with a crown, Archimedes was able to determine the gold content in it by weighing it in water. His other contributions included the Archimedes' claw, a weapon that could sink ships, and the Archimedes' screw, a machine that could pump up water without using electricity.

Archimedes was such a genius that when the Romans invaded Syracuse, their general gave orders that the mathematician should not be harmed.

However, Archimedes killed by a Roman soldier in one of the battles. He was buried in a tomb decorated with his favourite mathematical proofs.

Althogh Archimedes' formulae were popular, much of his work was forgotten until his books were translated. Arabic versions in the 8th century inspired scientists in the Middle East whereas Latin translations in the 16th century inspired European scientists.

Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei, Rene Descartes and Pierre de Fermat were among the influential scientists inspired by Archimedes.

Hence, it is no wonder that Archimedes is now called the father of mathematics.

A sphere has 2/3 the volume and surface area of its circumscribing cylinder.A sphere and cylinder were placed on the tomb of Archimedes at his request.

Archimedes may have used his principle of buoyancy to determine whetherthe golden crown was less dense than solid gold.

The Archimedes screw can raise water efficiently.

Archimedes may have used mirrors acting collectively as a parabolic reflector to burn ships attacking Syracuse.

Archimedes used the method of exhaustion to approximate the value of π.

As proven by Archimedes, the area of the parabolic segment in the upper figureis equal to 4/3 that of the inscribed triangle in the lower figure.

Archimedes is said to have remarked about the lever: Give me a place to stand on, and I will move the Earth.

Discovering Radioactive Elements

Marie Curie discovered the nature of radioactive elements - but it killed her.

In 1896, French scientist Henri Becquerel discovered that uranium salts gave off energy. But he couldn't figure out exactly what was going on.

Marie Curie, a Polish scientist living in France, called these rays "radioactivity". Marie's husband Pierre Curie was a noted chemist. Working together, the Curies discovered two other radioactive elements in 1898: polonium and radium.

By 1903, they worked out what was happening. Certain types of atoms are unstable. They decay over many years and eventually become different and stable elements.

For example, uranium-238 decays into thorium-234 over 4.5 billion years. It then takes about another 341,000 years to turn into a stable element called lead-206.

While the nucleus is changing, invisible radioactive radiation is released. As these rays carry a lot of energy, they can be very useful - or very dangerous.

Positive uses include using radioactive radiation to kill cancer cells. This is called "radiotherapy". It's also used to sterilise medical equipment, detect blood clots, and to treat food.

But radioactive radiation can also kill and mutate body cells, causing internal bleeding, infertility, cancer and many other health problems.

Back in the early 1900s, nobody realised how dangerous radioactive elements are. Marie Curie died as a result of leukaemia caused by the action of radiation.

Facts:1. Marie Curie was born Marie Skodowska on November 07, 1867 in Warsaw, Poland.2. Marie Curie won the Nobel Prize twice. In 1903, she shared the Nobel Prize for Physics with

Henri Becquerel and Pierre Curie. She was also the sole winner of the 1911 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

3. Pierre Curie was killed in a street accident in 1906.4. Irradiation involves the use of radioactive radiation to kill bacteria in food.5. A Geiger Muller counter detects radioactive radiation. A sphygmomanometer measures blood

pressure.