Archimedes discovered combinatorics 2200 years ago

It seems that in an almost forgotten piece of work by Archimedes he discovered a part of math that did not come about until the invention of Computers.

www.taipeitimes.com...





[Edited on 16-12-2003 by BlackJackal]

I remember watching a document where they said that some Greek inventor came pretty close to inventing steam engine some 2000 years a go. Imagine if the world would've started industrializing back then:

(g) Tagged this one for a 'keeper' post for the forum. Excellent find.

Archimedes invented a number of things, including a way to move water from one level to another. They had some pretty astonishing machines back then; what they didn't have was a way of making machines to make those machines. They could mass produce things -- but not machines.

Was he criticized for his findings?

Did anyone even care about his work, or was he a nobody?