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Archimedes devoted much of his life to the study of geometry. He was
fascinated with shapes. Many of the shapes he studied can be found
in nature.
Archimedes' Spiral
Archimedes mathematically described the constant windings in a
simple spiral. This shape can be found on the bottom of a
pinecone.
Sphere
Archimedes studied spheres. He showed that the volume of a sphere is
two-thirds that of a cylinder that encloses it. Spheres can be found
on a grand scale in the shape of planets.
Circle
Archimedes is probably best known for finding a good approximation
for pi. Pi is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter.
Circles appear in many places in nature, such as the ripples around
a drop of water.
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