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The Sand-Reckoner (Paperback)

by Gillian Bradshaw (Author) "The box was full of sand ..." (more)

4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Forge books; 1st edition edition (May 15 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312875819
ISBN-13: 978-0312875817
Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 14 x 2.3 cm
Shipping Weight: 295 g

Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)

Amazon.ca Sales Rank: #213,492 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Armed with just a few antique facts, Bradshaw ably recreates the extraordinary life of Archimedes, the great mathematician and engineer who built sophisticated weapons during the first Punic War. Archimedes lived in the Greek city of Syracuse from 287 to 212 B.C., except for a brief but glorious youthful stint in Alexandria, the hub of intellectual life in the classical age. Surrounded by men who share his genius for geometry, the absentminded Archimedes becomes intoxicated by numbers, often scribbling diagrams on tablecloths and staring for hours into a box of sand to calculate grains. After three years, he begrudgingly returns to his hometown with his slave, Marcus, to find his father dying and his city at war with the Romans. Putting his engineering skills to use for the army, Archimedes builds bigger and better catapults, and he is soon being courted for his talent by the good King Hieron. Jealous co-workers and an unexpected betrayal shadow Archimedes's rise to fame as the Archimechanic. But Syracuse is winning the war because of his inventions, and King Hieron gives him the royal treatment in an effort to keep him from accepting a job offer from King Ptolemy of Egypt. Archimedes sets his sights on Delia, King Hieron's half-sister, with whom he shares a love of music, but he must choose between her and the fair city of Alexandria, between a career as a simple engineer and the siren call of pure mathematics. Bradshaw (Island of Ghosts) is skilled at bringing historical figures to life, and this intriguing and entertaining novel of the boyish dreamer who possessed one of the ancient world's most brilliant minds demonstrates her vivid imagination. (Apr.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Around the few facts that are known about Archimedes (287?^-212 B.C.), well-regarded historical novelist Bradshaw (The Sarmations, 1998) has fashioned an interesting and informative tale of love, war, and family responsibilities. When the young Archimedes is called back to Syracuse after three years in Alexandria, where he studied his beloved mathematics at Ptolemy's museum, he discovers that his father is gravely ill and the city itself is under attack by the Roman army. Archimedes puts his mathematical knowledge and engineering ability at the service of the state, and builds for King Hieron bigger and more deadly catapults than had ever been seen before, thus helping the king broker a treaty with the Roman commander Claudius. Two subplots are woven into the novel's main thread: the growing love between Archimedes and King Hieron's sister, and the difficult situation that Marcus, Archimedes' Roman slave, finds himself in as he discovers that his brother is one of the Roman soldiers captured by the Syracusan army. While Bradshaw's book lacks the emotional complexity found in the historical novels of Rosemary Sutcliffe, her novel provides a vivid picture of the life and times of the greatest mathematical and engineering mind in the classical world. Nancy Pearl --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
The box was full of sand. Read the first page

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Concordance

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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

17 Reviews

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
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Average Customer Review

4.5 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)

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2.0 out of 5 stars Ordinary., Jul 16 2004

By	algo41 "algo41" (cinnaminson, nj United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sand-Reckoner (Hardcover)

This is a fictionalized account of Archimedes, at the time he first gained employment building war machines for his native Syracuse. As a self absorbed, yet benevolent genius, he is kind of fun. His slave/companion is an interesting, even credible character, and Sand Reckoner provides insights into the politics as well as the science of the day - in particular what it meant to be a neighbor of Rome. On the other hand the romance is juvenile, and most of the characters are stick figures, to the extent that I could not enjoy the novel sufficiently as even light fiction. Sand Reckoner is a very ordinary example of historical fiction. By way of comparison, I am currently reading Jackson by Max Byrd, which actually has literary merit.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Simple Story with Unforgettable Characterizations, Sep 5 2003

By	Diana F. Von Behren "reneofc" (Kenner, LA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

Anyone who has read Gillian Bradshaw knows that she is a master of characterization. Here in "The Sand-Reckoner", she brings the complicated mind of the Archi-Mechanic, Archimedes, to life in a simple well-written literary manner that can be compared to Ron Howard's equally marvelous glimpse inside the mind of Nobel Prize Winning Game Theorist John Nash in the film, "A Beautiful Mind". Bradshaw allows the reader to understand Archimedes' distractions, his love of mathematics, his enjoyment of and utter concentration employed in solving a puzzle and his disgust at the practical and barbaric uses of his mind exercises. Better yet, her auxillary cast of characters illustrates through their exasperation and confusion the impact such a different mind has on those it touches. Bradshaw crafts a simple story revolving around Archimede's desire to return to the learned city of Alexandria and his feelings of nationalism towards his home city of Syracuse, now besieged by the Romans during the first Punic War. The interplay of characters and their motives is superb. Marcus, his Roman slave, torn between his love of his adopted 'family' and his ties to his country, contends with Archimedes' lack of practicality-- a lack his mother and sister have grown to understand but find frustrating. King Hierion, tyrant of Syracuse, wishes only to harness Archimedes' great skill in building seige machines and uses Archimedes' patriotism to chain him to the city. Delia, the king's sister and master musician is intrigued by the young genius and finds through him a way to live the life of which she has been dreaming. Great emotions tug at the reader's heart as the story unfolds; each of the characters embodies only the best of ideals. The reader comes away with a sense of touching the great mind of Archimedes himself but also basks in the light of the selflessness of the Marcus character, whose bravery I found myself thinking about days after finishing the novel.

Recommended to all those who love an uncomplicated historical novel with a straightfoward story and unforgettable characters.

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5.0 out of 5 stars A Breath of Fresh Air, Jun 30 2002

By	S. Brand "sandra807" (United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Sand-Reckoner (Hardcover)

Within the first few paragraphs of The Sand Reckoner, I was whisked into the delightful character of Archimedes, ancient Greek of mathematical genius. I had let the book sit unread for several months because the cover looked so sedate, and the subject matter � a mathematician � seemed rather unexciting, but this book was a breath of fresh air after reading so many other "heavy" historical fictions full of serious battles, treachery, and gore.

What was it about this book that made me eager to gobble it up? For at least the first half of the book, we are immersed in the charming character of Archimedes, a young man who is completely ignorant of his genius. His modesty and occasional social blunders were endearing and he made me smile. His budding romance with King Hieron's daughter, Delia, although not historically recorded, is certainly plausible, and I was wishing it really could have been so.

Besides the fascinating story of Archimedes' development of murderous machines to defend his city of Syracuse, and which he came to depise for their deadliness, we also are treated to the story of his slave, Marcus. Hiding his Roman citizenship, Marcus is confronted with choosing between loyalty to Syracuse or to the Romans who besiege the city. Marcus' character is completely different from that of Archimedes, and nearly as intriguing. As his crisis becomes more intense, we follow him with the same emotional involvement as we follow Archimedes.

The plot interweaves the stories of these two main characters along with the stories and personalities of other characters such as Philyra, Archimedes' sister, who is loved by the slave Marcus, a love which you hope will succeed somehow. King Hieron is a lovable king, who author Bradshaw has imbued with great wisdom in his quest for peace and justice.

The characters that Bradshaw has developed kept making me think that she herself must be a wonderful person...that her own personality must somehow be shining through these characters. There is some danger, suspense, and adventure in this book, but it captured me with its charm, wit, and a general feel-good atmosphere.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Simple but beautiful ...
Who could imagine, geometry and mathematics are so exciting? When you read Gillian Bradshaw story about young Archimedes you want to follow the steps of the inventor of the modern... Read more

Published on April 2 2002 by Yaran

5.0 out of 5 stars Relive the life of a Genius
A beautifully written story about Archimedes of Syracuse, one of the most famous engineers and mathematicians of ancient times. Read more

Published on Feb 14 2002 by Dana Keish

5.0 out of 5 stars Just a History Buff
A wonderful novel. Ms. Bradshaw has given life to historical figures that are just names to many. The development of the characters is realistic. Read more

Published on Feb 7 2002 by religious scholar

4.0 out of 5 stars Engrossing
I found this book to be captivating, informative, delightful, and moving. Bradshaw creates a late-antique Syracuse of light and beauty and, in Archimedes, an adorable fusion of... Read more

Published on Aug 29 2000 by Jay Gambol