author
Sir Thomas Little Heath
1861–1940
A gifted interpreter of Greek mathematics, this scholar helped generations of readers meet Euclid, Archimedes, and Apollonius in clear English. He also spent decades in British public service, balancing a demanding civil-service career with serious classical scholarship.
2 Audiobooks
Archimedes
by Sir Thomas Little Heath
The Copernicus of Antiquity (Aristarchus of Samos)
by Sir Thomas Little Heath
About the author
Born on 5 October 1861, Sir Thomas Little Heath was a British civil servant and classical scholar who became one of the best-known modern historians of ancient Greek mathematics. He was educated at Clifton College and Trinity College, Cambridge, and his work earned him major honors including election to the Royal Society and the British Academy.
Heath is especially remembered for translating and explaining the works of Euclid, Archimedes, Apollonius, and Aristarchus. His books on Greek mathematics and astronomy were valued for making difficult ancient texts readable without losing their precision, and they remained important reference works for many years.
Alongside his scholarly life, he had a substantial career in government service, eventually reaching senior positions in the British Treasury. That combination of exact scholarship, administrative discipline, and deep love of the ancient world gives his writing a distinctive character: careful, learned, and still inviting to curious readers.