Mathematician:Eratosthenes of Cyrene

Mathematician

Greek geometer and astronomer best known for his estimate of the size of the Earth.

Also famous for:

his Sieve of Eratosthenes

his measurement of the obliquity of the ecliptic.

Famously a correspondent with Archimedes of Syracuse, who addressed the preamble of his The Method to him.

Custodian of the Library of Alexandria.

Went blind in his old age, and it is said that he committed suicide by starving himself to death.

Nationality

Greek

History

• Born: c. 276 BCE, Cyrene, North Africa (now Shahhat, Libya)
• Died: c. 194 BCE, Alexandria, Egypt

Theorems and Topics

• Sieve of Eratosthenes
• Eratosthenes' Measurement of Earth
• Obliquity of Ecliptic

Results named for Eratosthenes of Cyrene can be found here.

Publications

• Platonicus (on the philosophy of Plato)
• Hermes

Other works

These works are referred to by other ancient writers, but are now believed lost:

• On the measurement of the Earth
• On means (now lost: recognised by Pappus as one of the great works of geometry)

Critical View

... a good mathematician but quite a fop.

-- 1937: Eric Temple Bell: Men of Mathematics: Chapter $\text{II}$: Modern Minds in Ancient Bodies

Also known as

Ancient Greek: Ἐρατοσθένης.

Sources

• John J. O'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson: "Eratosthenes of Cyrene": MacTutor History of Mathematics archive

• 1937: Eric Temple Bell: Men of Mathematics ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $\text{II}$: Modern Minds in Ancient Bodies
• 1986: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers ... (previous) ... (next): A List of Mathematicians in Chronological Sequence
• 1989: Ephraim J. Borowski and Jonathan M. Borwein: Dictionary of Mathematics ... (previous) ... (next): Eratosthenes
• 1992: George F. Simmons: Calculus Gems ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $\text {B}.16$: The Sequence of Primes: Footnote $1$
• 1997: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): A List of Mathematicians in Chronological Sequence
• 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Eratosthenes of Cyrene (c. 275-194 bc)
• 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Eratosthenes of Cyrene (c.275-194 bc)
• 2008: Ian Stewart: Taming the Infinite ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $2$: The Logic of Shape: Problems for the Greeks
• 2014: Christopher Clapham and James Nicholson: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Mathematics (5th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Eratosthenes of Cyrene (about 275-195 bc)