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Archimedes was the ancient Greek inventor
and mathematician who is remembered for being
one of the greatest minds in all of human
history.
His theorems became laws of physics, and his
equations became essential for future generations
of scientists and engineers.
While his great passion in life was the study
geometry, Archimedes also used his mind to
invent weapons of war that successfully defended
the city of Syracuse from Roman invaders.
On today’s Biographic, we tell the story
of a man whose legacy has lasted thousands
of years.
A Life of Academic Achievement
Archimedes was born in 287 BC in the city
of Syracuse, which is located on the east
coast of the island of Sicily.
He was the son of Phidias, who was a renowned
mathematician and astronomer.
When he completed his basic education in Sicily,
Archimedes traveled to Egypt to complete his
education.
At the time, the city of Alexandria was known
for being one of the greatest places to receive
an education in the entire world.
Of course, not everyone can afford to send
their child to Egypt for school, which leads
people to believe that he may have been descended
from nobility.
Many scholars claim that he was a relative
of King Hieron II, who was the ruler of Syracuse
at that time.
When Archimedes returned to Syracuse after
completing his education, he arrived with
the object that is credited as one of his
first inventions.
This was known as the “Archimedes Screw”.
Scholars believe that Archimedes could have
borrowed the idea from something that had
already existed in Egypt, but bringing it
to Greece it truly revolutionized life for
people living in Syracuse.
This was a spiral-shaped device that could
be placed into a river or a ditch of water,
and when you turn the handle, water travels
uphill.
This made it incredibly easy to fill a bucket
with water, and to drain an underground well
or ditch.
The device is now named after him, called
the Archimedes Screw.
It would later be used to water the Hanging
Gardens of Babylon, which became one of the
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
The Archimedes Screw is so efficient, it is
still sometimes to irrigate fields to this
very day.
Aside from these details of his achievements,
we don’t know very much about the personal
life of Archimedes.
He actually did give the details of his life
to his friend and biographer, Heracleides,
but the text was lost over the course of time.
We don’t even know if he was ever married,
or had any children.
But the stories of his greatest achievements
were based down through the years, which is
how they still survived today.
Many of these stories seem so outlandish,
that they are often debated, and some historians
consider to be legends.
At the very least, we do know Archimedes’
personality.
According to the Greek biographer Plutarch,
Archimedes was so hyper-focused on his work,
that it became the most important thing in
his life.
He often forgot to take cadre of his basic
human needs.
"(Archimedes would) forget his food and neglect
his person, to the degree that when he was
occasionally carried by absolute violence
to bathe or have his body anointed.
He used to trace geometrical figures in the
ashes of the fire, and diagrams in the oil
on his body.
(He was) in a state of entire preoccupation
and, in the truest sense, divine possession
with his love and delight in science."
The Golden Grown
One of the most famous stories about Archimedes
is that of the golden crown.
This story was originally recorded during
the first century BC by a Roman architect
named Vitruvius, based on the tale that had
been passed down for generations by word-of-mouth.
It has been retold again and again ever since.
As the story goes, a local goldsmith in Syracuse
was commissioned to create a golden wreath
crown out of pure gold.
These crowns were placed on the heads of the
statues of the Greek Gods and Goddesses in
order to pay tribute to them.
However, once King Hieron got the crown back,
he was surprised by its weight.
He believed that the goldsmith possibly swindled
him out of some of his gold by creating the
crown by using silver, and then plating it
with gold.
However, he had no way to prove that without
damaging the crown.
Archimedes was given the task of figuring
out of a golden crown was truly made of pure
gold, or if it was simply a gold-plating on
a cheaper metal.
After he was given this problem to solve,
he became obsessed with it, and this was all
that he could think of day and night.
He would write down mathematical equations
without positive results.
Just like always, he stopped eating, sleeping,
and bathing while he tried to solve the problem.
Eventually, his students dragged him into
the bath house to clean himself, because he
was beginning to seriously reek.
When he laid down in the bath, some of the
water splashed over the edge of the tub.
He realized that the weight of his body dispersed
the water, and the excess had to leave the
tub in order to accommodate his body.
Suddenly, he realized that he could use this
to solve the issue of the golden crown.
Apparently, he was so excited by this discovery
that he jumped out of the bathtub, and ran
down the streets shouting, “Eureka!”-
“I have found it!” without ever bothering
to get dressed.
People gasped and covered their children’s
eyes, while others laughed at the eccentric
genius they all knew and loved.
Some historians believe that this last part
was exaggerated, and that it may have just
been a silly story told for fun.
Even so, the practice of shouting the phrase
“Eureka!” after a huge discovery is still
used today.
Vitruvius wrote, “The solution which occurred
when he stepped into his bath and caused it
to overflow was to put a weight of gold equal
to the crown, and known to be pure, into a
bowl which was filled with water to the brim.
Then the gold would be removed and the king’s
crown put in, in its place.
An alloy of lighter silver would increase
the bulk of the crown and cause the bowl to
overflow.”
Once Archimedes proposed this solution to
the king, they compared the containers of
water side-by-side, it was clear that the
goldsmith had, in fact, taken a lot of the
gold for himself, and gave the king a gold-plated
crown.
They had sufficient evidence to find him guilty
of stealing from the king.
In modern times, there are some scholars who
believe that this story has been over-simplified
throughout the years, and that Achimedes may
have used a more complex method in order to
figure out the solution to the golden crown.
Others say that it was a symbolic story, and
that the incident never happened at all.
But we do know that it truly did happen, because
these experiments resulted in the creation
of the Archimedes Principle.
This discovery would later become a law of
physics, and began as the basics of fluid
mechanics.
It is still used by engineers today.
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Inventions and Achievements
Throughout his lifetime, King Hieron II continued
to bring his requests to Archimedes, and he
was often challenged to use his mind to create
the impossible.
The King commissioned him to build a vessel
known as The Syracusia.
It was said to have been one of the largest
boats that was ever built in ancient times,
and required the same amount of material that
would normally go into building 60 ships.
It took over 100 men to assemble it after
one year of work.
According to the historian Moschion of Phaselis,
the interior of the Syracusia was so extravagant,
it would even impress people in modern times.
The boat was to be constructed of exotic wood
and marble.
It had watchtowers staffed with soldiers,
statues of the gods, fresh water baths, a
massive dining hall serving the finest food,
a gymnasium, a library, and a temple.
Objects were made of ivory and gold.
One of the largest pieces of original artwork
that was commissioned for the ship was an
illustration of the entire epic of the Iliad
along the walls of the ship that had been
hand-assembled in mosaic tiles.
King Hieron wanted to do more than just a
luxury pleasure cruise along the coast line.
He planned to take it across the Mediterranian
sea.
So, how could something so heavy actually
float?
Archimedes figured out The Law of Buoyancy
and hydrostatics in order to make it all work.
The King wanted the impossible, and yet Archimedes
was able to make it happen yet again.
Without his calculations and the Law of Buoyancy,
modern-day cruise ships and mega-yachts may
not exist.
Once the ship was finally finished, the people
of Syracuse celebrated its completion, and
nearly 2,000 people were allowed on board.
tHowever, after its maiden voyage from Sicily
to Egypt, no one knows what happened to the
famous ship.
Aside from figuring out how luxury cruise
liners can float, Archimedes invented some
pretty incredible things that we still use
to this very day, like the Law of the Lever
and Balance.
He told the King that he could lift any object,
no matter how heavy it was.
He was quoted saying to the King, “Give
me a place to stand, and I will move the Earth”.
Impressed and slightly skeptical, the King
asked to see him lift a ship out of the sea.
Through a set of cogs and pulleys, Archimedes
was able to sit down at one end of the lever
and lift a ship that was full of heavy gear.
While we take them for granted today, his
simple machine inventions of the level, pulley,
and screw were completely revolutionary, and
would be essential to building modern society.
All of this was incredibly impressive, but
his favorite achievements might surprise you.
They were his geometric equations.
In one of his publications called Method,
he explained how he was testing various levers
with geometric shapes.
He would see how weights balanced against
one another with the center of gravity.
Sometimes, he would see that something worked,
but that wasn’t enough.
He needed to use math to prove step-by-step
why it worked.
These were some of the world’s first geometric
proofs.
Archimedes was so obsessed with calculating
math problems, that he would carry around
a tray of sand with him so that he could trace
calculations with his fingers.
One of his most significant contributions
to math came from his publication called On
the Measurement of the Circle, where he figured
out the ratio of a circle's circumference
to its diameter is Pi, or 3.14.
He worked on calculating the volume and surface
area of various shapes and objects.
He even created the system of using exponents
to describe large numbers.
Before this time, Greek scientists would perform
an experiment, and draw conclusions from it
afterwards.
Archimedes would begin with math first, and
then perform experiments in order to attempt
to see what would happen in reality.
Through this form of experimentation, Archimedes
was responsible for so many theorems that
would eventually be classified as laws of
physics.
Because of this, his mind has been compared
to Einstein.
His brain was a truly remarkable level of
genius that you rarely see but once in a lifetime.
The Roman Invasion of Syracuse
In the 3rd century BC, the Mediterranean basin
was split between the Carthaginians in the
west, while the Greeks in the east.
The Romans controlled Rome, of course, but
they were getting ready to invade the surrounding
territory to build their empire.
The Romans and the Carthaginians fought the
First Punic War from 264 to 241 BC.
The war ended with Rome taking the victory
over Carthage.
This meant that Sicily was now a Roman territory.
King Hieron II was able to maintain peace
with Rome, and remain and independent city,
so long as they paid tribute in the form of
goods.
This all changed in 218BC when The Second
Punic War began.
In 215 BC, King Hieron II died, and King Hieronymus
became the new ruler of Syracuse.
He chose to switch the city’s loyalty from
Rome, and became rivals with Carthage instead.
Clearly, this was a huge mistake.
From 214 to 212 BC, the city of Syracuse now
had to fend off Roman invaders.
So far in this story, you may think that Archimedes
was more of a nerdy type who was only concerned
with maths.
If you were to put him in a fight, you wouldn’t
exactly put your bets on him that he would
win.
But when the king gave him the task of inventing
unstoppable war machines to fight the Roman
Empire, his mind delivered.
Archimedes may have been an old man in his
70’s, but his mind was still sharp as a
tack.
Yet again, he was able to achieve the impossible.
He created defense weapons that successfully
defended the city for at least two years.
One of his most powerful weapons was known
as The Archimedes Claw.
The claw was attached to his levels and pulley
system.
The claw would grab on to the front of a Roman
boat, lift it up in the air, and drop it back
into the sea.
This would capsize the ship, dumping the crew
and all of its weapons into the Medeterranian
sea.
The Roman commander, Marcellus was quoted
saying, “Archimedes uses my ships to ladle
sea water into his wine cups”
But he didn’t stop there.
Archimedes also created both large and small
catapults that were able to blast holes through
the Roman ships.
According to Plutarch, "When Archimedes began
to ply his engines, he at once shot against
the land forces all sorts of missile weapons,
and immense masses of stone that came down
with incredible noise and violence; against
which no man could stand; for they knocked
down those upon whom they fell in heaps, breaking
all their ranks and files.”
Archimedes has also been credited for helping
Syracuse use “burning mirrors”, which
reflected the sunlight onto the sails of the
Roman ships, causing them to catch fire.
The following scene was described in a 12th
Century text called The Book of Histories:
“The old man [Archimedes] constructed a
kind of hexagonal mirror, and at an interval
proportionate to the size of the mirror he
set similar small mirrors with four edges,
moved by links and by a form of hinge, and
made it the centre of the sun's beams--its
noon-tide beam, whether in summer or in mid-winter.
Afterwards, when the beams were reflected
in the mirror, a fearful kindling of fire
was raised in the ships, and at the distance
of a bow-shot he turned them into ashes.”
The defense weapons were so successful, that
they were responsible for killing thousands
of Roman soldiers.
So long as the continued to go after Syracuse,
the men were killed by these machines.
Commander Marcus Claudius Marcellus decided
that it was futile to attack Syracuse, so
they waited until they could find their perfect
moment to conquer the city.
By 212 BC, Syracuse could not defend itself
for much longer.
According to some historians, the citizens
of the city were beginning to starve, because
they were surrounded by the Romans and could
not get their supplies.
This starvation forced them to surrender.
According to others, Syracuse refused to surrender,
and Archimedes’ weapons were strong enough
to hold them off.
But the Romans managed to take advantage of
a weak spot in one of their land-facing defensive
walls while everyone was busy celebrating
a religious festival.
Either way, Rome finally captured Syracuse,
and ultimately won the Second Punic War.
Death, and Legacy
Marcellus Claudius Marcellus knew that Archimedes
was responsible for these glorious weapons,
and he knew that he could be an asset to the
Roman Empire.
Once they captured the city, he gave strict
orders that this genius was an asset, and
must not be harmed.
He gave the order to bring Archimedes to him.
The only issue was that the Roman soldiers
had no idea what Archimedes looked like.
The finer details of the story of his death
change depending on the source, but what we
do know is that Archimedes was in the middle
of working on his geometry on the beach.
He was tracing images of circles and mathematical
equations in the sand.
A Roman warrior walked over top of his geometric
drawings, which scattered all of his work.
Archimedes was outraged, and seemed to be
totally oblivious to the fact that this was
a Roman soldier.
According to legend, his last words were,
“Do not disturb my circles!” before being
cut down by the man’s sword.
He was 75 years old.
After his death, Archimedes was buried in
a large tomb that represented his mathematical
achievements.
Even though he had destroyed so many Roman
ships, they still had a tremendous amount
of respect for him, and scholars would visit
to pay homage to his great mind.
At the tomb, there was a statue of a sphere
and a cylinder.
This represented what Archimedes considered
to be his greatest achievement; “If a sphere
is inscribed in a cylinder, then the sphere
is 2/3 of the cylinder in both surface area
and volume.”
Years later, the famous Roman statesman named
Cicero wrote that he wanted to pay his respects
to the tomb of Archimedes.
After searching for hours, he finally found
it near the Agrigentine gate in Syracuse.
It was overgrown with vegetation, and clear
that no one had bothered to visit in a very
long time.
Cicero cleaned up the area, and wrote down
the inscriptions that he found on the tomb,
so that it would never be forgotten by history.
In modern times, people have theories as to
where the location of the tomb may be, but
no one knows for sure.
In the 1960’s, the Hotel Panorama claimed
that they discovered the tomb of Archimedes
during construction, and that they preserved
it in their court yard.
However, some people believe that this was
just a publicity stunt to attract more guests
to the hotel.
Years after his death, the works of Archimedes
had been re-written, passed down by scribes
over and over again.
As tragic as it sounds, there must be countless
numbers of notes and texts that Archimedes
created from his lifetime of work, and it
would have been lost or destroyed over time.
Even though it was nearly impossible to find
one of these missing original texts, it happened
In 1906.
A lost work known as the Archimedes Palimpsest
were discovered buried in an old Christian
text.
Way back in 1229 AD, a man named Johannes
Myronas was reusing parchment from old books,
and he unwittingly covered up the original
work of Archimedes and replaced it with prayers.
In 2008, the text was purchased by its present
owner who was open to the idea of allowing
it to be dissected for research purposes.
A group called The Friends of Archimedes got
together to restore the 3rd Codex.
A team from a variety of different professional
backgrounds spent over 4 years restoring the
manuscript.
One of the scholars, William Noel, explains
in his TED Talk that they had to go through
a painstaking process of removing glue and
examining the pages one-by-one under various
light sources in order to reveal the hidden
works of Archimedes.
This group did not do this project for the
money, but rather, for the love of knowledge,
and out of respect for Archimedes’ mind.
They believed that this information should
be free to the public, so they made the entire
3rd Codex available to read online for free.
The only catch is that you need to know how
to read in ancient Greek.
The odds that we will ever find more of his
discoveries like this are slim-to-none.
But the work that we do remember from Archimedes
was enough to revolutionize modern-day math,
science, and engineering.
Without his brilliant mind, the world truly
would be a very different place.
