Why should I know Archimedes?

“Eureka!”

“Give me a place to stand, and a lever long enough, and I will move the world.”

“How many theorems in geometry which have seemed at first impracticable are in time successfully worked out?”

“Man has always learned from the past. After all, you can't learn history in reverse!”

“Many people believe that the grains of sand are infinite in multitude ... Others think that although their number is not without limit, no number can ever be named which will be greater than the number of grains of sand. But I shall try to prove to you that among the numbers which I have named there are those which exceed the number of grains in a heap of sand the size not only of the earth, but even of the universe>”

“Mathematics reveals its secrets only to those who approach it with pure love, for its own beauty.”

“Rise above oneself and grasp the world.”

“There are things which seem incredible to most men who have not studied mathematics.”

“Those who claim to discover everything but produce no proofs of the same may be confuted as having actually pretended to discover the impossible.”