Archimedes

***Archimedes was a Greek mathematician, philosopher and inventor who wrote important works on geometry, arithmetic and mechanics.

When we think of the great scientists and mathematicians of the ancient world, who have contributed greatly to today's inventions and researches, who could forget Archimedes. In the hearts and minds of scientists Archimedes occupies the same respectable position as Sir Isaac Newton. In his ancient Greek days he was known as the "the wise one," "the master" and "the great geometer". His works such as the "Death Ray" gained him popularity and fame that lasts till this day. He was one of the last great Greek mathematicians.

Archimedes was born in Syracuse on the eastern coast of Sicily and educated in Alexandria in Egypt. He then returned to Syracuse, where he spent most of the rest of his life, devoting his time to research and experimentation in many fields. His father was an astronomer. Archimedes was related to the tyrant who ruled Syracuse, on the island of Sicily, and he lived his whole life in Sicily, except when he went to study at the University of Alexandria in Egypt, where he probably met and worked with the other great scientists of his time: Euclid, Aristarchus, and Eratosthenes. Archimedes worked mainly in a losing battle to defend his city-state from the Romans, who were attacking Syracuse in the course of the First Punic War.

Archimedes invented, or people said he had invented, a bunch of different kinds of machines. The most important of these machines was the screw pump, which uses a screw to lift water from one place to another.

In mechanics he defined the principle of the lever and is credited with inventing the compound pulley and the hydraulic screw for raising water from a lower to higher level. He is most famous for discovering the law of hydrostatics, sometimes known as 'Archimedes' principle', stating that a body immersed in fluid loses weight equal to the weight of the amount of fluid it displaces (see below to the right). Archimedes is supposed to have made this discovery when stepping into his bath, causing him to exclaim 'Eureka!' (you can see images of inventions attributed to him on the left)

But Archimedes was also interested in why things worked, and whether they would work the same way every time. He explained why levers worked, and he worked on getting a more accurate number for pi. The accomplishment Archimedes himself was most proud of was that he proved that if you fit a sphere inside a cylinder, the sphere will have two-thirds the volume and two-thirds of the surface of the cylinders

Archimedes died when the Romans were conquering Syracuse; a Roman soldier killed him during the Roman conquest of Sicily in 214 BCE. Archimedes worked for the state, and several of his mechanical devices were employed in the defense of Syracuse. Among the war machines attributed to him are the catapult and - perhaps legendary - a mirror system for focusing the sun's rays on the invaders' boats and igniting them. After Syracuse was captured, Archimedes was killed by a Roman soldier. It is said that he was so absorbed in his calculations he told his killer not to disturb him.