Pennsylvania College of Optometry - Iris Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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- , ,- , Y, V ,,--. -.nw :WI--A - , --rms-f -V - ECEND has it that Archimedes, ancient Creek mathemati- cian, set fire to Roman ships through the use of a large convex lens that intensified the sun's heat by converging the rays, mirrors reflecting them across the water. Or it may be that he used a concave mirror, or a combination of plane mir- rors, for the same purpose. Whether this story is true or not, it shows that knowledge prevailed about lenses used as burning glassesl' and indicates that thought might have been given to the subject of refraction in very early times. Archimedes lived in 287 B, C. l-le appears to have been an inventor of instruments, mainly instruments of war. One of his great accomplishments was aiding King Ptolemy in the launch- ing of his warships. This legend is interesting also because of the fact that one of the first incidents connected w3th lenses depicts them as destructive instruments, instead of the highly beneficial in- struments they have become to relieve human suffering. Archimedes discovered the relation which a sphere bears to a cylinder. At his direction, a cylinder and a sphere were en- graved on his tombstone to commemorate his discovery of their relation. tCourtesy of Optical journal and Review of Optometryl

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A ?g.:?1,7GTIM I M V LEGEND OF ARCHIMEDES 4287 B.C.7 CLASSES 1 v

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R Senior Class