Archimedes
(287-212 BC)
Biography and inventions of
Archimedes
The king of Syracuse in Sicily, Hieron, was a
good friend and patron of Archimedes. One
day, Hieron decided to get a golden crown
made. He gave a lump of gold to the royal
goldsmith, who made the crown and presented
it to the king. Hieron suspected that the
goldsmith had cheated him and not used pure
gold in the crown. He asked the wisest man in
his kingdom, Archimedes, to find out if the
goldsmith had adulterated the gold with any
other metal in the crown.
This problem foxed the great
Archimedes. How was he to determine the
material of the crown without destroying it?
He spent a lot of time thinking about it but
just could not find a way to test the crown.
Then one day, when he was at the public
baths, he got the answer. Legend has it that he
ran out naked into the streets shouting
"Eureka, Eureka", which is Greek for "I have
found it".
The idea that so excited Archimedes was
the foundation of his principle of flotation. He
measured the volume of water displaced by
the crown and by the lump of gold of equal
weight to that which was given to the
goldsmith. It turned out that the lump of gold
displaced less water than the crown and this
led him to conclude that the crown had some
impurities. Needless to say, one doesn't know
what happened to the goldsmith after that!
Archimedes was born in Syracuse, a
seaport in Sicily, in 287BC. His father was an
astronomer and not much is known about him.
At that time, Alexandria in Egypt was the
main center for mathematics and it is almost
certain that Archimedes studied there.
Archimedes was a great mathematician and he
wrote several books on geometry, especially
on areas and volumes of figures and solids. He
proved that the volume of a sphere is two-
thirds the volume of the cylinder that
circumscribes the sphere.
His fascination for geometry was so
intense that he would forget about the world
when he was absorbed in his thoughts. His
servants had to forcibly take him to the baths.
Once there he would continue with his
drawings on his oil-covered naked body!
Though one of the greatest
mathematicians of all times, Archimedes was
better known as a prolific inventor. It is said
that when he went to Egypt, he invented a
pump called the Archimedes screw. He also
invented many so-called war machines, which helped his friend Hieron in the war against the
Romans. In fact, the people of Sicily
appreciated these machines much more than
his work on pure mathematics!
The story of Archimedes' death is also
fascinating.
In 212BC the Roman army attacked Syracuse
and Archimedes was responsible for the
defense with his war machines. The Roman
lost but besieged the city. They found a breach
in the walls of city and entered it to loot and
plunder. By this time Archimedes was well
known and the Roman generals had given
orders to catch him alive.
Archimedes was busy drawing some
diagrams on send when a Roman solider came
upon him. So engrossed was he in his
diagrams that he had not noticed the Romans
capturing the city. The solider asked
Archimedes to accompany him but he refused to go till he had solved the problem he was
working on. Archimedes was then killed by
the enraged solider.
Archimedes' most famous mathematical
result, regarding the volume of the sphere and
the cylinder, is inscribed on his tomb.
Archimedes was one of the greatest minds of
his time and is still remembered for his work
in mathematics and mechanics.
Facts at a Glance:
. Archimedes is credited with many inventions
and discoveries, some of which we still use
today. His water pump, called the Archimedes
screw is still used in many parts of the world
to water pump from a well. Interestingly, it
was originally designed to remove water from
ships.
. He was famous for his compound pulley, a
system of pulleys used to lift heavy loads such
as ships.
. Archimedes made several war machines for
his patron and friend King Hieron. These
included a primitive missile system (a sort of
catapult) and a system of mirrors to focus the
sun's rays on to enemy ships. These were used
very effectively by King Hieron against the
Roman in 212 BC.
. Archimedes did a lot of work in geometry,
which included finding the surface areas and
volumes of solids accurately.
. The work that has made Archimedes famous is his
theory of floating bodies. He laid down the laws of
floating and developed the famous Archimedes' Principle,
which states that a body immersed in a fluid loses weight
equal to the weight fluid it displaces. This is the principle
which helps us understand why bodies less dense than
water float and ones which are denser sink in water.
Instructor: Samiullah Zewak