1. The Eratosthenes' Sieve Back in 200 BC a Greek mathematician named Eratosthenes developed a simple step-by-step method for determining which numbers are prime. This method is called "Eratosthenes' Sieve".
2. A sieve is a strainer that allows small particles to pass through while catching the larger particles.
3. In the case of Eratosthenes' Sieve, the small particles that pass through are all the non-prime numbers and the large particles that remain are the Prime Numbers.
5. He was born in Cirene (actually Shahhat, Libia, which is in Africa) He studied in Alexandria Arquimedes was his friend He died at the age of 80.
6. He was a great mathematician, philosopher, poet and astronomer. People knew him as the second Plato or because he was always second in every subject he studied.
7. His method to find out the prime numbers can be divided into 5 simple steps.
14. The Eratosthenes' Sieve - Step 3 Circle the number 2 and cross out all the multiples of 2 (or all the even numbers)
15. The Eratosthenes' Sieve - Step 4 Look for the following number that is not crossed out. Circle the number and cross out all the multiples of that number.