Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 Permit me to rave a bit about this book November 7, 2008
This book is engaging and funny, smart and clever, profound and simple. It may be the best book I have read this year, because even though written for young readers, it is packed with information.
Ancient Sicily becomes accessible as a culture and lifestyle through this book. And Archimedes' discoveries are made clear through written descriptions and illustrations that are perfect for the text. The information about the way children were instructed in Syracuse, and then about how Archimedes furthered his education, was compelling. The love of learning shines in this book.
The geometry chapters are advanced, but not too difficult. And the section about the war machines he invented was downright fun!
There are immediate applications for learning at home -- creating mobiles to learn about centers of gravity, using levers and screws and pulleys, studying eclipses and the solar system. This is an excellent, excellent book.
First written in 1962, republished by Bethlehem Books, and a must-read. Enjoy it for yourself!
 ARCHIMEDES DISCOVERED NOTHING NEW!!! June 22, 2008
1 out of 33 found this review helpful
EVERYTHING that Archimedes is supposed to have "discovered" already existed in Africa, thousands of years before "WHITE" Greeks existed. The Ancient Egyptians "THE MASTER BUILDERS" had already discovered "ALL" of the Arts & Sciences. The Greeks & Romans were students of the Ancient Black Egyptians, before they destroyed the Egyptian Civilization by raping the women, killing the Priests, forbidding the speaking of the language & burning the Library of Alexandria. Ask yourself this question, if the Greeks were such Great Mathematicians why did they go all the way to Africa to set up this Library, and where are their Pyramids? Huh?
Africa & Africans were the fountainhead of knowledge, at a time when the Whites had recently emerged from the Caves of & Hillsides of Europe, where they were walking on all fours and eating their meat raw, not having the knowledge of fire. Go back and read the ancient historical accounts by Herodotus, where he describes not only the Scientific Wonders of the Ancient Egyptians, but also describes their race as being of "Burnt Skin & Woolly Hair, & that they describe themselves as "THE" Most Ancient of Peoples.
WHY ARE THERE NO ANCIENT RUINS IN WHITE CIVILIZATIONS BUILT BY WHITE PEOPLES? (Stonehenge and other monuments in Europe were built by Blacks who peopled what is called Europe millions of years before the first Whites arrived. Google "Grimaldi Negro", the first inhabitants of Europe. Also see "The Making of the White Man" by Paul Guthrie & "Black Spark, White Fire".
THIS IS THE SAME TYPE OF RACIST LOGIC THAT POSITS THAT CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS DISCOVERED AMERICA, WHEN EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT BOTH INDIANS & BLACKS WERE HERE FIRST, BUILDING PYRAMID CIVILIZATIONS.
For further edification read: "The African Origin of Civilization" by Cheik Anta Diop (Renowned Senegalese Physicist & Linguist), "Stolen Legacy" by George M. James (Greek Scholar) & "Black Athena" by Martin Bernal (which shows that Early Greece was peopled by two successive waves of African colonization who laid the foundation of both Minoan & Greek Civilization. Take a close look at the Minoans, they are of African stock, as were the early Greeks prior to the invasions of the Barbaric White Dorians, who brought no Civilizing influence to Greece.
Racist White historical analysis cannot replace cold hard facts such as the Pyramid Civilizations appearing only in Black Civilizations such as Egypt, Mexico etc. The Pyramid culture in the Americas begins with the Thick Lipped, Broad Nosed, Wooly Haired Olmec Civilization, "THE MOTHER CIVILIZATION" of the Americas.
FURTHERMORE, WHOSE TO SAY THAT ARCHIMEDES WAS WHITE, AS GREEK CIVILIZATION AT THAT TIME, HAD BLACKS AS WELL AS WHITES.
Truth crushed to Earth will Rise Again!!!
Good Math/Thinking Introduction May 31, 2008
This book has a lot of good information about how math concepts were discovered over time by Archmedes. Some of the concepts are involved, but it is written at a level that allows young children (8 yrs and up) to access the ideas. The text could easily be used to branch off to classroom/home study science or math explorations. An excellent introduction to the possible depths of mathematics/science study in a light manner that children will find engaging.
A wonderful read! August 17, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book is about Archimedes' life. He found out how to measure a circle and the principle of buoyancy. He invented the Archimedes' screw. He moved a ship full of cargo with one hand and a machine he built. And he did all this without electricity. I think that you will love this book.
Great little book July 5, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
My 12 year old and then my wife have read this nifty little book before I got to read the father's day present. I generally like less-than-one-hour biographies with pictures, particularly of inventors.
Great book for readers at 4th grade level and above.
For adults, if you admit to liking cliff notes, I would recommend this book on Archimedes first, before buying something more scholarly.
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