Sporus of Nikaia
Sporus von Nikaia , Sporus von Nisea, (* around 240 probably in Nikaia ; † around 300) was a Greek mathematician.
Sporus was a student of Philo of Gadara and a teacher or senior fellow student from Pappos . After Pappos he was held in high regard. What is known about him comes from the writings of Pappos and Eutokios . He dealt with the classic problems of dividing the angle into three and doubling the cube . Instead of a cissoid like Diocles , he used a marked ruler like Pappos. He criticized other attempts to solve these problems, such as Hippias's quadratrix for squaring the circle , since it presupposes the knowledge of the circle number pi via the Dinostratos theorem . However, knowing pi is equivalent to squaring the circle. The criticism is cited by Pappos, who also criticized the use of the quadratrix.
After Eutokios he also criticized Archimedes for not getting a more precise value of pi, and said that his own teacher Philon of Gadara had received more precise values. Eutokios defended Archimedes by choosing precisely the precision that was sufficient for practical purposes.
Sporus is also said to have published about the size of the sun and comets and about the Arctic Circle . A critical edition of the Phainomena des Aratos von Soloi is said to come from him, and after Eutokios he wrote a work called Kiria (Kηρια).
literature
- Manfred E. Szabo : Sporus of Nicaea . Dictionary of Scientific Biography , Volume 12, pp. 579-580
Web links
- John J. O'Connor, Edmund F. Robertson : Sporus of Nikaia. In: MacTutor History of Mathematics archive .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Szabo, Article Sporus of Nicaea, Dict. Scientific Biography
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Sporus of Nikaia |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Greek mathematician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | at 240 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | İznik |
| DATE OF DEATH | at 300 |