Eutocius of Ascalon

Eutocius of Ascalon (ca. 480 – ca. 540) was a Greek mathematician who wrote commentaries on several Archimedean treatises and on the Apollonian "Conics".

Life and work

Little is known about the life of Eutocius. He wrote commentaries on Apollonius and on Archimedes. The surviving works of Eutocius are:
*A Commentary on the first four books of the Conics of Apollonius.
*Commentaries on:
**the "Sphere and Cylinder" of Archimedes.
**the "Quadrature of the Circle" of Archimedes.
**the "Two Books on Equilibrium" of Archimedes.Historians owe much of their knowledge of Archimedes' solution of a cubic by means of intersecting conics, alluded to in "The Sphere and Cylinder", to Eutocius and his commentaries. Eutocius dedicated his commentary on Apollonius' "Conics" to Anthemius of Tralles, also a mathematician, and architect of St. Sophia. [cite book|last=Boyer|authorlink=Carl Benjamin Boyer|title=|year=1991|chapter=Revival and Decline of Greek Mathematics|pages=193|quote=Eutocius (born ca. 480), commented on several Archimedean treatises and on the Apollonian "Conics". It is to Eutocius that we owe the Archimedean solution of a cubic through intersecting conics, referred to in "The Sphere and Cylinder" but not otherwise extant except through the commentary of Eutocius. The commentary by Eutocius on the "Conics" of Apollonius was dedicated to Anthemius of Tralles (t534), an able mathematician and architect of St. Sophia of Constantinople,]

References

*cite book
first=Carl B.
last=Boyer
authorlink=Carl Benjamin Boyer
title=A History of Mathematics
edition=Second Edition
publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
year=1991
isbn=0471543977

Notes

External links

*MacTutor Biography|id = Eutocius