Archimedes beloved home of Syracuse was under attack by Roman Naval forces. It is said that he was so absorbed in his calculations he told his killer not to disturb him. Archimedes invention was even used in the first screw-driven steamship built in 1839.
Following Rome’s siege of Syracuse in 212 BC, Roman General Marcellus is believed to have taken two. The general was impressed by the machines that Archimedes built to defend the city from the Romans. After Syracuse was captured, Archimedes was killed by a Roman soldier. The roman general by the name of Marcus Claudius Marcellus was saddened by his death as he intended to bring Archimedes into his service. 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. Archimedes is supposed to have made this discovery when stepping into his bath, causing him to exclaim 'Eureka!'ĭuring 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. 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. 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. For a very long time, the virtuoso of Archimedes repulsed the Romans, empowering the city to endure the extensive attack. 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. Archimedes of Syracuse was a remarkable antiquated Greek mathematician, designer, physicist, engineer, and furthermore an astronomer. © Archimedes was a Greek mathematician, philosopher and inventor who wrote important works on geometry, arithmetic and mechanics.Īrchimedes was born in Syracuse on the eastern coast of Sicily and educated in Alexandria in Egypt.