A History of Greek Mathematics, Vol. 2

Excerpt from A History of Greek Mathematics, Vol. 2

Historians of mathematics have, as a rule, given too little attention to Aristarchus of Samos. The reason is no doubt that he was an astronomer, and therefore it might be supposed that his work would have no sufficient interest for the mathematician. The Greeks knew better; they called him Aristarchus 'the mathematician', to distinguish him from the host of other Aristarchuses; he is also included by Vitruvius among the few great men who possessed an equally profound knowledge of all branches of science, geometry, astronomy, music, &c.

Men of this type are rare, men such as were, in times past, Aristarchus of Samos, Philolaus and Archytas of Tarentum, Apollonius of Perga, Eratosthenes of Cyrene, Archimedes and Scopinas of Syracuse, who left to posterity many mechanical and gnomonic appliances which they invented and explained on mathematical (lit. 'numerical') principles.

That Aristarchus was a very capable geometer is proved by his extant work On the sizes and distances of the Sun and Moon which will be noticed later in this chapter: in the mechanical line he is credited with the discovery of an improved sun-dial, the so-called crKacprj, which had, not a plane, but a concave hemispherical surface, with a pointer erected vertically in the middle throwing shadows and so enabling the direction and the height of the sun to be read off by means of lines marked on the surface of the hemisphere. He also wrote on vision, light and colours.

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