Ostomachion

Archimedes. Archimède, Volume 3. Mugler, Charles, editor. Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1971.

Open Greek and Latin · CC BY-SA 4.0

Cloned and adapted by Humanitext, with ongoing edits.

This work is a geometrical analysis by the ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes, focusing on the traditional puzzle known as the "Ostomachion." The Ostomachion is a puzzle in which a square is divided into 14 pieces of various shapes to be rearranged into diverse figures. Archimedes explores the theoretical background of how these pieces are divided and rearranged, conducting a rigorous mathematical inquiry. In the text, he presents proofs for preliminary geometrical theorems necessary to verify the angles and the straightness of the edges of each piece. Through these surviving fragments, the work demonstrates the author's mathematical approach, elevating a simple toy into a subject of rigorous geometric investigation.