The Archimedean Spiral (aka arithmetic spiral), as the name suggests, was discovered by the famous Greek mathematician Archimedes in the third century B.C. Archimedes had a very well rounded education and as a result was able to take his strong math skills and apply them to physics and engineering. He has been credited with inventing many practical mechanisms that laid the foundation for some of the greatest advances of that time period. Much of these engineering innovations were the result of applying the Archimedean Spiral because it can easily be computed and works very well in real world applications. Unlike the Golden Spiral and other logarithmic spirals, the Archimedean Spiral increases at a constant speed and angular velocity with respect to a fixed point. These properties make it much more appealing and friendly for mathematicians to work with as opposed to the complex spirals found in nature. However, the Archimedean Spiral and other arithmetic spirals do in fact exist very rarely in nature. The shape of the sun’s magnetic field forms an arithmetic spiral because their solar winds increase at a uniform rate as they extend outward. In certain instances, the propulsion of fireworks traces out variations of the spiral. Ultimately, the Archimedean Spiral is a man made tool that functions well for its intended purposes. It has been used exclusively in the development of scroll compressors, gramophone records, watch springs, and screw mechanisms capable of raising water for irrigation. Without the brilliant inventions of Archimedes, many of the devices that enable us to efficiently perform tasks would not exist.
