Archytas

Archytas (428 BC - 347 BC), was a Greek philosopher, mathematician, astronomer, statesman, strategist and commander-in-chief.

Archytas was born in Tarentum, Magna Graecia (now Italy) and was the son of Mnesagoras[?] or Histiaeus[?]. He was teached for a while by Philolaus and he was a teacher of mathematics to Eudoxus of Cnidus. He was scientist of the Pythagorean school, famous as the intimate of end of Plato. His and Eudoxus' student was Menaechmus[?].

Sometimes he is believed to be the founder of mathematical mechanics.

According to Eutocius[?] Archytas solved the problem of duplicating the cube in his manner with a geometric construction. Hippocrates of Chios[?] before reduced this problem to finding mean proportionals. Archytas' theory of proportions is treated in the book VIII. of Euclid's Elements.

The Archytas curve[?], which he used in his solution of the doubling the cube problem, is named after him.