Editing Archimedean point (section)

== Origins ==
[[File:Archimedes lever.png|thumb|''Archimedes lever'', engraving from ''Mechanics Magazine'', London 1824]]
The term refers to the great mathematician [[Archimedes]], who supposedly claimed that he could lift the [[Earth]] off its foundation if he were given a place to stand, one solid point, and a long enough lever.

The idea for the term is attributed to [[René Descartes|Descartes]] in his [[Meditations on First Philosophy|second ''Meditation'']], who refers to Archimedes requiring only "a point that was firm and immovable," with regard to finding [[certainty]]:<ref>{{cite web | title = Quotations about Archimedes Lever | url = http://www.math.nyu.edu/~crorres/Archimedes/Lever/LeverQuotes.html | accessdate = 2009-01-23| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20090126130558/http://www.math.nyu.edu/~crorres/Archimedes/Lever/LeverQuotes.html| archivedate= 26 January 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref><blockquote>Archimedes, that he might transport the entire globe from the place it occupied to another, demanded only a point that was firm and immovable; so, also, I shall be entitled to entertain the highest expectations, if I am fortunate enough to discover only one thing that is certain and indubitable.<ref>[[David Manley (philosopher)|Manley, David B.]], and Charles S. Taylor, ed. [1996] 2005. “[http://www.wright.edu/~charles.taylor/descartes/meditation2.html Meditations II].” ''Descartes' ‘Meditations’'' (HTML ed.), translated by [[John Veitch (poet)|J. Veitch]] (1901). Dayton, OH: [[Wright State University]], College of Liberal Arts.</ref></blockquote>