Biography of archimedes principle story

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

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.

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. Archimedes is supposed to have made this discovery when stepping into his bath, causing him to exclaim 'Eureka!'

During the Roman conquest of Sicily in 214 BC Archimedes worked for the state, and several of his mechanical devices were employed in the defence 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.

Greek mathematician and physicist (c. 287 – 212 BC)

For other uses, see Archimedes (disambiguation).

Archimedes of Syracuse (AR-kim-EE-deez;c. 287 – c. 212 BC) was an Ancient Greekmathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor from the ancient city of Syracuse in Sicily. Although few details of his life are known, he is considered one of the leading scientists in classical antiquity. Regarded as the greatest mathematician of ancient history, and one of the greatest of all time, Archimedes anticipated modern calculus and analysis by applying the concept of the infinitely small and the method of exhaustion to derive and rigorously prove many geometricaltheorems. These include the area of a circle, the surface area and volume of a sphere, the area of an ellipse, the area under a parabola, the volume of a segment of a paraboloid of revolution, the volume of a segment of a hyperboloid of revolution, and the area of a spiral.

Archimedes' other mathematical achievements include deriving an approximation of pi (π), defining and investigating the Archimedean spiral, and devising a system using exponentiation for expressing very large numbers. He was also one of the first to apply mathematics to physical phenomena, working on statics and hydrostatics. Archimedes' achievements in this area include a proof of the law of the lever, the widespread use of the concept of center of gravity, and the enunciation of the law of buoyancy known as Archimedes' principle. In astronomy, he made measurements of the apparent diameter of the Sun and the size of the universe. He is also said to have built a planetarium device that demonstrated the movements of the known celestial bodies, and may have been a precursor to the Antikythera mechanism.^[15]

Archimedes was possibly the world's greatest scientist — at least the greatest in the classical age. He was a physicist, mathematician, astronomer, inventor and engineer. Many of his inventions, theories and concepts are still in use today. Perhaps his best-known achievement was his "Eureka" moment, when he discovered the principle of buoyancy.

Biography

Archimedes lived in Syracuse on the island of Sicily in the third century B.C. At that time, Syracuse was one of the most influential cities of the ancient world, according to Scientific American. Trading vessels from Egypt, Greece and Phoenicia filled the city-state's harbor. It was also a hub of commerce, art and science, according to the Archimedes Palimpsest.

After studying geometry and astronomy in Alexandria, the "greatest intellectual center in the ancient world," according to Scientific American, Archimedes settled down in Syracuse to pursue a life of thought and invention.

One of his inventions was the Archimedes screw. This device uses a corkscrew with a hollow tube. When the screw turns, water is pulled up the tube. It was originally used to empty sea water from a ship's hull. It is still used today as a method of irrigation in developing countries, according to the Archimedes Palimpsest.

Archimedes famously said, "Give me a lever and a place to stand, and I'll move the world." This boastful claim expresses the power of leverage, which, at least figuratively, moves the world. Archimedes realized that in order to accomplish the same amount or work, one could make a trade-off between force and distance using a lever. His Law of the Lever states, "Magnitudes are in equilibrium at distances reciprocally proportional to their weights," according to "Archimedes in the 21st Century," a virtual book by Chris Rorres at New York University. 

Archimedes also devised defenses for Syracuse against invading armies. He strengthened the walls of Syracuse and construc

Archimedes was born in the city of Syracuse on the island of Sicily in 287 BC. He was the son of an astronomer and mathematician named Phidias. Aside from that, very little is known about the early life of Archimedes or his family. Some maintain that he belonged to the nobility of Syracuse, and that his family was in some way related to that of Hiero II, King of Syracuse.

In the third century BC, Syracuse was a hub of commerce, art and science. As a youth in Syracuse Archimedes developed his natural curiosity and penchant for problem solving. When he had learned as much as he could from his teachers, Archimedes traveled to Egypt in order to study in Alexandria. Founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC, Alexandria had, by Archimedes' time, earned a reputation for great learning and scholarship.

Euclid was one of the most well-known scholars who lived in Alexandria prior to Archimedes' arrival in the city. Euclid was a renowned mathematician, perhaps best remembered for collecting all of the existent Greek geometrical treatises and assembling them in a logical and systematic order in his book, “The Elements.” This compilation was fundamental to the study of geometry for over 2,000 years, and undoubtedly influenced the work of Archimedes.

After his studies in Alexandria, Archimedes returned to Syracuse and pursued a life of thought and invention. Many apocryphal legends record how Archimedes endeared himself to King Hiero II, discovering solutions to problems that vexed the king.

Archimedes' Screw

One such story recounts how a perplexed King Hiero was unable to empty rainwater from the hull of one of his ships. The King called upon Archimedes for assistance. Archimedes' solution was to create a machine consisting of a hollow tube containing a spiral that could be turned by a handle at one end. When the lower end of the tube was placed into the hull and the handle turned, water was carried up the tube and out of the boa