Archimedes worked much of his geometry from figures drawn in the ashes or in the after-bathing oil smeared on his body.
in fact. it is related that he met his end during the sack of syracuse while preoccupied with a diagram drawn on a sand tray.
According to one version, he ordered a pillaging Roman soldier to stand clear of his diagram, whereupon the incensed looter ran a spear through the old man.
the works of Archimedes are masterpieces of mathwmatical exposition and resemble to a remarkable extent modern journal articles. they are written with a high finish and an economy of press