
He also invented a system for expressing quite large numbers. He perfected a method of integration which allowed him to find areas, volumes and surface areas of many bodies.Īrchimedes was also able to apply the method of exhaustion, which is one of the early forms of integration, to obtain a whole range of important results. The achievements of Archimedes are quite outstanding and he is considered by most historians of mathematics as one of the greatest mathematicians of all times. He once claimed, “Give me a place to stand and I will move the Earth” to King Hieron. Plutarch a greek historian had mentioned that Archimedes had moved an entire ship filled with men using his own strength and a system of compound pulleys. The more pulleys that are added the longer it will take to lift the object and on the other hand the object becomes that much easier to lift. The system may contain more than two pulleys or ropes. A compound pulley is a combination of fixed and movable pulley system. Archimedes Death RayĪrchimedes invented the first compound pulleys. But there are evidences that this device was being used in egypt long before archimedes in ancient Egypt. This prevents water leakage through the helicoid screw, thus making it more efficient.Īlthough this invention is commonly attributed to Archimedes. In some cases The screw could be attached to the casing with pitch resin or other adhesive, or the screw and casing could be cast together as a single piece in bronze. This screw within the tube could be turned by various means like manual,cattle or wind.Īs the screw is turned the lower end of the screw scoops up water and passes it upwards by the rotation of the helicoid screw and finally pours out of the top end of the tube. The water screw is rather like a screw placed within an empty tube, which can pull water up from a low lying river, lake, or well. This machine is used for raising water which is still used these days. This remarkable yet simple invention is know by many names Egyptian screw, water screw, screw pump or the most popular one the Archimedes screw. Polybius sheds a little light on Archimedes as a person, and focuses on the war machines that he is said to have built which were in order to defend the city from the Romans at that time. 200 – 118 BC) which is written about seventy years after his death.

The earliest reference to Archimedes occurs in The Histories by the Polybius (c. The primary versions of the life of Archimedes were written long after his death by Greek and by the Roman historians. We only know this much because of the information provided in one of his works, The Sandreckoner.Īccording to historians it is also likely that when Archimedes was at a young age, he studied with the successors of Euclid in Alexandria. Other than this fact little to nothing is known about the early life of Archimedes or his family. When he had learned as much as he could from his mentors, Archimedes travelled to Egypt in order to study in Alexandria.įounded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC, Alexandria at that time was famous for its great learning and scholarship, this very love for knowledge attracted Archimedes to Alexanderia.Īrchimedes was the son of an astronomer and mathematician Phidias. In the third century BC, Syracuse was a main hub of commerce, art and science.Īs a youth in Syracuse, Archimedes inhabited his natural curiosity and penchant for problem solving. He was born in Greek city of Syracuse in approximately 287 BC. Archimedes is a man who was both, of his time and far ahead of his time.

Archimedes of Syracuse, Italy is the most famous mathematician, inventor, physicist, engineer and an astronomer in ancient Greece.
