Archimedes of Syracuse (c. 287 BC – c. 212 BC) was a Greek mathematician, philosopher, scientist and engineer.
??? ??? ?? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??????. [Dôs moi pâ stô, kaì tàn gân kinás?.]
- Give me the place to stand, and I shall move the earth.
- Said to be his assertion in demonstrating the principle of the lever; as quoted by Pappus of Alexandria, Synagoge, Book VIII, c. AD 340; also found in Chiliades (12th century) by John Tzetzes, II.130. This and “Give me a place to stand, and I shall move the world” are the most commonly quoted translations.
- Variant translations:
- Give me a place to stand and with a lever I will move the whole world.
- This variant derives from an earlier source than Pappus: The Library of History of Diodorus Siculus, Fragments of Book XXVI, as translated by F. R. Walton, in Loeb Classical Library (1957) Vol. XI. In Doric Greek this may have originally been ?? ??, ??? ?????????? ??? ??? ?????? ????? [P? b?, kai kharisti?ni tan g?n kin?s? [variant kinas?] p?san].
- Give me a lever and a place to stand and I will move the earth.
- Give me a fulcrum, and I shall move the world.
- Give me a firm spot on which to stand, and I shall move the earth.
Archimedes said, “Give to me a fulcrum on which to plant my lever, and I will move the world.” And I say, give to woman the ballot, the political fulcrum, on which to plant her moral lever, and she will lift the world into a nobler purer atmosphere.
- Susan B. Anthony from here 1870s
Archimedean point : a reliably certain position or starting point that serves as the basis for argument or reasoning (Merriam-Webster)
