Definition:Method of Exhaustion/Historical Note
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Historical Note on Method of Exhaustion
The method of exhaustion was invented by Eudoxus of Cnidus in around $370$ BCE.
It was later exploited to good effect by Archimedes, and is used throughout Euclid's The Elements during the course of calculating volumes of solid figures.
Some sources credit Archimedes with invention of the method, but this is incorrect.
Sources
- 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Eudoxus of Cnidus (c. 400-c. 350 bc)
- 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): exhaustion
- 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Eudoxus of Cnidus (c.400-c.350 bc)
- 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): exhaustion
- 2008: Ian Stewart: Taming the Infinite ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $2$: The Logic of Shape: Taming irrationals