Archimedes Essay!!!

 B5 Algebra

I chose to write about Archimedes because of two reasons. The first one is because his name was used in the sword and the stone… remember the smart sarcastic little owl?? The second reason is because Archimedes is considered one of the three greatest mathematicians of all time.  For this essay I’m going to focus on Archimedes’s life and all the great/ funny things he did.  Archimedes was known as “The wise one,” and “The master” and “The great geometer” his work and inventions are still talked about today. He was a fabulous mathematician.

            Archimedes was born in 287 B.C., at Syracuse, a Greek seaport colony in Sicily; his dad was Phidias, an astronomer. It makes sense that his dad was an astronomer, the smarts are passed along, huh?!?! Archimedes spent most of his life at his birthplace, not counting when he attended Euclid's school in Alexandria. Obviously, he proved to be a master at mathematics and he spent most of his time thinking  about new problems to solve, sometimes he was so involved in his work that he forgot to eat. Archimedes didn’t have paper or blackboards  so he used any available surface, from the dust/durt on the ground to ashes from an extinguished fire, in order to draw his geometric figures. He never stopped thinking about math!!! Sometimes, after having a bath and anointing himself with olive oil, he would trace figures in the oil on his skin. Talk about devotion!!! Once, he was pondering a solution to a problem the king gave him while he was in the bathtub and he figured it out! He was so excited that he ran naked through the streets of Syracuse shouting "Eureka! eureka!" (I have found it!).  Archimedes has done tons of amazing things.  In order to tell you a few I have a huge quote from a website called http://www.mathcs.org/analysis/reals/history/archimed.html

I couldn’t have said it as good as they did…

“Though he had many great inventions, Archimedes considered his purely theoretical work to be his true calling. His accomplishments are numerous. His approximation of between 3-1/2 and 3-10/71 was the most accurate of his time and he devised a new way to approximate square roots. Unhappy with the unwieldy Greek number system, he devised his own that could accommodate larger numbers more easily. He invented the entire field of hydrostatics with the discovery of the Archimedes' Principle. However, his greatest invention was integral calculus. To determine the area of sections bounded by geometric figures such as parabolas and ellipses, Archimedes broke the sections into an infinite number of rectangles and added the areas together. This is known as integration. He also anticipated the invention of differential calculus as he devised ways to approximate the slope of the tangent lines to his figures. In addition, he also made many other discoveries in geometry, mechanics and other fields.”

It’s amazing what he did with his life !!! to close I’ll share the last few years of his life. The end of hi life was quite busy. King Heiro was impressed with   Archimedes’s work so he persuaded him to develop weapons to protect the city. These inventions were VERY useful! Some of his inventions were: Huge catapults that hurled 500 pound boulders at the enemy soldiers; large cranes with claws on the end lowered down on the enemy ships, lifted them in the air, and then threw them against the rocks; and a system of mirrors focused the suns rays to light enemy ships on fire. All of which they used to get the Romans out of Greece, they foughteach other for eight months before Greece fell. Archimedes was killed by a Roman soldier when the city was taken. The traditional story is that the mathematician didn’t  know what was going on in the city. While he was drawing figures in the dust, a Roman soldier stepped on them and demanded him to come with him. Archimedes responded, "Don't disturb my circles!" The soldier was so angry that he pulled out his sword and slew Archimedes. When Archimedes was buried, they put a sphere inscribed inside a cylinder and the 2:3 ratio of the volumes between them, on his tombstone, the figure of the solution to the problem he considered his greatest achievement. He was an amazing guy! We wouldn’t have the knowledge we have today without him.

Monsters with Meaning

          The monsters in literature that stick with us through the decades are not the ones that come purely from imagination. The monsters that we write, about think about, and make movies about most are either the monsters that we create or the monsters we become. We are afraid of the part of ourselves that is most like the monsters we fear.  One example that supports this idea would be Medusa. Medusa is a monster we fear because she represents the part of ourselves that is vain and jealousy.

              Medusa is from a Greek myth, in this myth she was the most wanted woman (for her beauty) in all of Greece. She was beautiful enough to be Poseidon’s girlfriend. In the myth Poseidon took Medusa to Athena’s temple (which was very disrespectful) where they were just playing around and having a good time. Athena found out and was furious, she stormed into her temple and screamed at Poseidon and Medusa, and for punishment she turned medusa into a hideous monster with snakes for Hair and eye’s that when ever someone looked at her they would turn to stone.  

             The point I’m trying to make is that sometimes beauty can be a curse. Medusa was so beautiful she turned ugly on the inside as well as on the outside. she used her beauty to gain favor with the gods and men. I don’t think she really knew what to do because all of the sudden she was without beauty and people didn’t treat her the same. She realized that because she wasn’t beautiful people treated her with contempt and scorn, her heart was hardened and she purposely lashed out at people and killed them.  She stopped caring about consequences

              Beauty can really change a person. I’ve observed that most men and women that are really attractive on the outside are really stuck up and mean and they tend to treat people as if they’re better than them. There have been interesting study’s in economic journals that say people who are more attractive get paid more than the average person, and attractive attorneys will most likely win a case. I think that we treat beautiful people differently, say we all want to be friends with them and guys go “goo goo ga ga” over attractive girls so the attractive girls and guys grow up thinking that they’re really special and expect special treatment because of their beauty. Beauty can be a curse!

Real Heroes

  

          There are many people that I think are heroes. My definition of hero’s might be different than most people. I picture a hero as an ordinary person that faced extremely difficult situations in his or her life but made the best of it and positively influenced the lives of others. Some examples of my hero’s are: Mother Teresa, Roger Bannister, Martin Luther king Jr., Florence nightingale, Joseph smith Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela, and Joan of arc. These people are extraordinary and a person can learn valuable lessons from each of their lives, but the person I’d like to write about today is Roger Bannister.

              Roger Bannister was the first person to run a mile in under four minutes. In Roger’s time no one could break the 'four minute mile barrier', they thought it was physically impossible and if anyone tried they would die in the process (their body would just give out).  Finally a coach came to Roger and told him that he thought it was possible to break the four minute mile barrier and that Roger was the one to do it.  Roger was flattered and told the coach he’d try. After months of practicing Roger finally did it by running the mile in 3:59.4. 

             People were completely shocked, and because of Roger’s example a few months later someone else broke the four minute barrier then someone else broke it, and now people all over the word consistently run a mile in UNDER four minutes.  Roger taught us that it doesn’t matter if something seems impossible “We Really can do it” if we believe and work hard.

             My dad is one of my hero’s, and he encourages us to memorize quotes as a family.  The first quote we memorized is by Gordon B. Hinckley and just happens to fit perfectly in this essay (I’m reciting this from memory “Thank You Daddy!!!”). “The great accomplishments of the world are not reached by extraordinary individuals but by common souls that work in an extraordinary way.” This quote means that amazing people like Mother Teresa, Roger Bannister, Martin Luther king Jr., Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln, and etc became who they were because they each had a plan or vision for their life, a vision they believed in, and they worked tirelessly until they reached it!

            I truly believe a hero lies in each one of us.  A hero who can do amazing things, solve impossible problems, help others through heart break, and most importantly is childlike enough to believe he or she can really do what seems impossible. Maybe, the best hero of all is the one to teach us all to let our inner hero out. Let it out!!!

           WE CAN DO IT!!!

My Hero....

I have a lot of hero's and they all are wonderful people, but the hero that exceeds all the others is Jesus
 Christ. He is the ultimate example to all of us, and I want to be just like him someday. Thoughout his life he showed us tender mercy's and love no matter what he was personally going through at that time and he still does now. I love him so much, he's my savior.

Jesus is always serving people. I honestly can not think of one account in Christs life when he wasn't serving others. An example is the time when Jesus Christ found out about his cousin John the Babtist's death. There were many people that loved Jesus and wanted to be near him so they followed Him to his secluded place of mourning. the twelve apostles tried to send the people away but Christ gentley stopped them and spent the rest of the day teaching the people. This was the time when he performed the miracle of feeding five thousand men and who knows how many women and children untill they were stuffed, with only five loaves of bread and two fish.

Jesus christ love us so much, he gave his life for all of us. He suffered unbelievable pain for the sins of the world (every one that has lived, will live, and are living now). You have to love somebody an aweful lot to do that for them.  He knows everyone inividually and thought of them Indivdually on the cross. His love is Eternal, no matter what you do in this life he will never stop loving you.

There is no one like him. He's the only perfect person to walk on this earth. He's my hero.

Summary of Beowolf

Beowolf goes to Hrothgar, protector of the Danes and he tells him all the amazing things he's done (he's trying to get hrothgar to let him fight Grendal) Hrothgar eventually say's "yes." Beowolf tells Hrothgar that when he fights grendal he'll fight him without armour or weapons just his bare hands. When Grendal and beowolf start to fight Beowolf grabs Grendals hand and squeezes it. grendal through out the rest of the fight is thinking about how strong beowolf is and how he's never met a man with a tighter grip. Unfortunately, Beowolf rips Grendal's arm off. Grendal  thinks he is going to die so he runs to his house (a cave) and dies there(I wanted to write: Grendal went crying home (but I restrained myself )) . People come from all over to see the arm and the bloody footsteps that were Grendals last.

The Three Curses of Aphrodite

By Richelle Mills B2

I have been forbidden to speak of these events for ten thousand years, but now the great goddess Aphrodite has loosened my lips. I feel her allowing me to tell you, and you alone all that has happened. I saw all the events, I heard the words spoken, for I, Aglaia, was there.

Aphrodite is a lot like her father Zeus, falling in and out of love almost daily. She spent most of her time on earth, doing whatever pleased her, mostly playing with the hearts of men. She roamed in and out of men’s lives cursing most of them, she had a nasty temper.

She was having so much fun on earth she was neglecting her duties on Mount. Olympus. as a result the other gods and goddess's were getting quite annoyed by her. They always had to look after her children for she had many at that time and she was too busy

to notice much of anything. On one occasion she was sitting in her favorite chair on Mount Olympus eating grapes, she saw a handsome traveler named Kallias, she fell in love with him. A few months later a golden basket floated down from Mount. Olympus landing in Kallias's hands. In the basket was a beautiful baby boy, there was a note attached to the side of the basket, it read:

"My Dear Kallias,

This is your son his name is Courastus.  If you try to give him back to me I'll turn you into some thing quite horrid.

However, bring Courastus to my temple when he‘s 18 years old he could make a fabulous hero.    No, this is not a Joke, he is your son.

Lots of love,

~Aphrodite

So, now Kallias had a son to raise. He decided that he would build a home near mount. Olympus so the goddess Aphrodite could see her son whenever she wished. As, courastus grew his mother went on being an annoyance to the gods and creating chaos for the mortals.

The great Goddess Aphrodite has just informed me that I must share three important events that took place during the 18 years she was waiting for her son to be delivered to her...

The first is told of a man by the name of Mattheias who was a priest in Aphrodite’s temple. Mattheias was a power hungry man, one day while he was talking a nap a spirit of Hades whispered in Mattheais's ear and filled his head with talk of ‘being worshiped as a god’ and ‘how the gods would never find out’ of  coarse Matthias loved the idea. So, he began to preach. He taught the people that Aphrodite wanted them to worship him instead of her, and the people believed him. They showered him with gifts and praises. As soon as found out she (being completely furious) flew from Mount. Olympus straight to Mattheais’s house. Aphrodite found him praying fervently for her forgiveness. She, hearing his prayer, was moved with compassion. So, she decided to turn Him into a tall skinny green bug (now referred to as the praying mantis) that permanently had his hands in the worshiping position. But, instead of being in that form for the rest of his life, he would stay that way until one of her children freed him. Just to make sure he would never do anything disobedient again she punished him a little bit more so that his children would all have the hideous form that he was cursed with.

The second event is about a beautiful woman named Thekilia. This young woman was the most beautiful in all of Greece. Most of the times when a women is beautiful on the outside she is more beautiful in the inside (like psyche), But this was not the case with Thekilia. Thekilia was praised for her beauty her whole life so as a result she was spoiled rotten and pretty much thought the word revolved around her. She flaunted her beauty saying she was more beautiful than Aphrodite. This caused Aphrodite to be angry with Thekilia. She came to Thekilia as an old wise woman telling her that if she would do five tasks then Thekilia could marry an old but rich prince far away. But Thekilia spat in the old woman’s face saying she would rather die. Aphrodite was furious at the girls behavior after all she was trying to peaceful remove her. Aphrodite changed into her true form, and Thekilia recognized her mistake started to beg for the goddess’s forgiveness, but it was too late. Aphrodite turned Thekilia into a blood red flower with sharp thorns (the flower for her beauty and the thorns for the sharpness of her heart), otherwise known as the “Rose”.  She told Thekilia that she would remain a rose until one of her many children sets her free, but all Thekilia’s children would be roses.

The third and last of the event’s is told of a man that is named Theodius. Theodius was the richest man in all of Greece, he was hated and envied by both men and women. He never spent his money he only worked for more. He didn’t care who he hurt, cheated or stole from all he cared about was getting more money. Worshipers of Aphrodite came to her temple and prayed that she would punish Theodius. Aphrodite decided she would help the people of Greece by getting rid of Theodius and teaching him a lesson. So she tied him in white fluffiness from the carpet of Mount. Olympus and sent him into the sky where he hung for days, the pain was so unbearable for Theodius that he began to weep. He wept so much, lakes and rivers were formed and the plants and animals received water. Aphrodite decided she would keep him there until one of her children set him free.

The 18 years were through so Kallias sent Courastus to his mother’s temple. When he got there his mother told him that she wanted him to free the three people she had cursed, and if he did than he wouldn’t have to work another day in his life. He was so excited that he started right away. Before he left his mother told him where the three were telling him he had to set them free in a specific order. First he had to free Mattheias, then Thekilia, and Theodius last. So, he set on his way. He came across Mattheias and then he realized he didn’t know how to free him so he began to pray to his mother. He looked up and noticed that a white bird was sitting right by him he locked eyes with the bird and the bird hopped over to him and dropped a piece of paper and a plum in his hand. The piece of paper told him to bite half the plum then give the other half to Mattheias. Mattheias ate the other half quickly then in a matter of seconds was human again. Mattheias and courastus part shortly after the transformation, and courastus go’s on and finds Thekilia, he begins to pray to his mother and he feels her whisper in his hear that Thekilia must fall in love and her love has to love her as well, then she will be human again. Courastus sat by Thekilia’s rosebush wondering what he was going to do. When Cupid notices a young man sitting by a rosebush and thought how funny it would be if they fell in love. So he took out his arrows and struck Thekilia and courastus and they fell in love and instantly Thekilia was released from her curse. Cupid was disappointed, but decided he’d search for a laugh elsewhere. Courastus and Thekilia stayed together and looked for Theodius. They wondered on to a cliff and saw a man hanging in the cloud. Luckily the cloud was flowing towards them. When the cloud reached Thekilia and Courastus they new the man in the cloud was Theodius. They both began to pray to Aphrodite, wondering what they should do. Writing began to appear in the dirt next to them, it said that first they had to teach the clouds how to get rain then they could untie Theodius. They taught the clouds that they take water from the earth and then give it back to it. After they taught the clouds they untied Theodius. Theodius was so grateful that he gave all his money to Courastus and Thekilia, and went on serving people for the rest of his life. Courastus and Thekilia lived a long happy life together, where they never had to work again.