Archimedes | Biography, History, Theories, Inventions & Facts

Archimedes is one of the most interesting figures in ancient Greek history. He lived in the city of Syracuse, where he solved problems and invented inventions for the king. He was one of the great mathematicians in world history and made many discoveries in his early years.

Archimedes Overview:

Biography of Archimedes:

Early Life of Archimedes

Archimedes was born around 287 BC. He is located in the city of Syracuse, Sicily. His father was an astronomer named Phidias. Archimedes may also have been associated with Hiero II, king of Syracuse. Little is known about his childhood, but he eventually traveled to Alexandria, Egypt, to study mathematics, before returning to Syracuse.

Working for the King

There are many stories about how and why Archimedes came up with his many inventions. Several of them tell how King Hiero II would request Archimedes to solve different problems. Archimedes would then go off and come up with some ingenious way to help out the king.

Silver or Gold?

There are many stories about how and why Archimedes came up with so many inventions. Some of them tell how Hiero II asked Archimedes to solve various problems. Then Archimedes set off and came up with an ingenious way to help the king. silver or gold?

One day the king received a new crown of pure gold. However, he suspected that the goldsmith had put silver in the crown to save money. He asked Archimedes to find out if it was pure gold. Archimedes didn’t know what to do. Knowing the density of gold and the density of silver, how could he determine the volume of the crown?
He found out when he took a bath.

He was able to measure the amount of water displaced by the crown and compare it to the weight of the object. With this information in hand, it was possible to determine whether the density of the crown matched that of fine gold.

Archimedes’ Screw

Archimedes used his mathematical skills and genius to create useful inventions. One of his most famous inventions is called the Archimedes screw. It was a device that could raise water to a higher level. One of its first uses was to pump water out of leaking ships. In some places they are still used to carry water from shallow water bodies to irrigation canals.

Defending Syracuse

One of the greatest events in Archimedes’ life was the Roman attack on Syracuse. Archimedes dedicated his talents to defending the city from the Romans, and made some fascinating inventions along the way. Two of his most famous are Archimedes’ Claws and The Ray of Heat.

Archimedes’ Claw – Archimedes’ Claw was a large crane with a claw at the tip. If an enemy ship approaches the crane, it will get caught in the bow and the ship will capsize.

Heat Rays – Legend has it that Archimedes used mirrors to focus the sun’s rays and set enemy ships on fire. It probably didn’t work, but perhaps it was used to distract or blind enemy ships.

Mathematics of Archimedes

Archimedes’ real passion was mathematics. He made many discoveries and is now considered one of the greatest mathematicians in history. Some of his discoveries are related to geometry, where he worked with spheres, cylinders, circles and parabolas. He also used a technique called the “depletion method” to calculate the value of pi very accurately. He even went so far as to perform mathematics similar to modern calculus using what he called “infinite smalls”.

Death of Archimedes

After two years of repelling the Romans, the city of Syracuse was finally conquered in 212 BC. was taken. When Archimedes was working on a math problem, a Roman soldier approached him and ordered him to meet with a Roman general. When Archimedes refused, the Roman soldiers enraged and killed him.

Interesting Facts About Archimedes

Legend has it that the last words Archimedes delivered to the Roman soldier who killed him were, “Do not disturb my comrades,” referring to some drawings he made in the sand. that’s right.

He is sometimes credited with inventing the odometer.

Galileo, the great inventor and astronomer, once described Archimedes as a “superman”.

The Fields Medal, which is awarded each year to the best mathematician, has a statue of Archimedes.

He discovered Archimedes’ principle of physics that the upward buoyant force on an object immersed in a liquid is equal to the weight of the liquid it is displacing.