Archimedes
Report
Note: Little is known for certain about Archimedes. Many of the facts in this report have not yet been confirmed. When reading, keep in mind that since not all of this comes from first hand sources, some information may be exaggerated or slightly changed.
Introduction
Archimedes was possibly the most famous, successful, and important scientist and mathematician of the Ancient World. He made many discoveries and created many inventions that were groundbreaking for his time and some are still in use today.
Archimedes: The Person
For most of his life, Archimedes lived in the Greek city of Syracuse which was ruled by King Hiero. It is thought that he lived for seventy-five years (287 B.C.E to 212 B.C.E), although he may have lived longer than that. During his life in Syracuse, he made many phenomenal discoveries in math and science. He also had the advantage of being close friends with the King (it was rumored that they were related).
Little is known about Archimedes' personality. Most historians, however, believe that he behaved somewhat like the stereotypical crazy scientists do today; he went days without eating, forgetting to go to bed, occasionally even forgetting to get dressed. He was obsessive and single-minded; he couldn't rest until he finished a problem.
Acomplishments of Archimedes
Despite his abnormal personality, Archimedes was brilliant. He first proved his brilliance to the King and city when he was passing by a boat. The King was watching a mass of people attempting (but not succeeding) to pull a three mast ship onto shore. Archimedes decided to lend a hand. He rigged pulleys from a dock to the boat. It has been calculated that the most pulleys he could have used were three, because after a certain point, adding pulleys makes it harder because of friction. The highest mechanical advantage that Archimedes could have gotten out of the pulleys was six, meaning that for every pound he pulled, the ship would feel six. This would not be enough to pull the boat ashore himself, but he might have used other inventions as well. The crank-and-axle he is sometimes credited for (the device used to pull water buckets from a well), would have greatly increased his effect on the boat. Also using his knowledge of gears, Archimedes could have done it. After that incident the King stated that Archimedes was to be believed in everything that he said.
Archimedes' most famous challenge was probably a problem presented to him by King Hiero. The King needed to tell if a crown was really 100% gold as the maker claimed. The catch was that Archimedes couldn't even scratch it. The answer came to him in the bath tub when he noticed overflow when he climbed in. He wrote Archimedes' Principle shortly after solving the problem. Archimedes' Principle states, "a body wholly or partly immersed in a liquid is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of liquid displaced by that body."
Since gold is dense and takes up less space than most metals, it would not be buoyed very much at all. All Archimedes had to do was to use a simple balance to see if the crown was buoyed up the same as gold was. The crown was a fake.
Later, Archimedes used this to invent a scale measuring density, or specific gravity, in comparison to water. Water is one times as dense as water so its specific gravity is one. Gold, which is nineteen times as dense as water has a specific gravity of nineteen. Silver has a specific gravity of eleven. If the specific gravity is less than one, it will float in water. This was the first scale in history used for measuring density.
Archimedes also found a way to approximately calculate pi by putting squares around and inside the circle. He eventually went up to using ninety-six sided figures and calculated pi quite accurately.
Archimedes' Final Years and Death
Archimedes spent his last three years aiding Syracuse in the defense against the Roman army. He created innovative defense technology that managed to hold the Romans off for three years. He made giant magnifying lenses which used the sun to scorch the troops laying siege to the city. It is said that giant cranes picked up and overturned ships in the harbors. The catapult was said to be created by Archimedes during those three years. Despite the efforts of Archimedes and the Greek troops, the Romans finally prevailed in taking the city. The Roman commander, Marcellus, said that Archimedes was to be brought to him and shown all the respect that Archimedes deserved. A soldier found him contemplating a problem, looking quite disturbed. When the soldier tried to take him to Marcellus Archimedes shouted, "Go, do not disturb me!"
Archimedes never got around to solving that problem. The soldier killed him out of rage.
Archimedes was one of the most innovative and brilliant minds of the
Ancient World and contributed much to modern civilization