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Top 15 Facts about Archimedes

*Originally published  by Lillian on February 2021 and Updated by Vanessa R on May 2023  and Updated by Felix in May 2024

Archimedes is regarded as one of the leading scientists of the olden days.

There is little about his life that is known, one thing that is certain though is that he one of the greatest mathematicians to have ever lived.

He is credited for coming up with modern calculus and analysis. Archimedes proved several mathematical theories like the area of a circle, the area of an ellipse, the area under a parabola among many other formulas.

This Greek mathematician had a good understanding of mathematics and physics. Part of his contribution was building war machines that protected Syracuse, his home, from the Romans.

Archimedes was also regarded a philosopher who is credited with the application of pi and discovering hydrostatics.    

I have put together some of the top 15 facts about Archimedes. Check them out below.

1. Archimedes birth date is not known

Archimedes was born circa 287 BC in the seaport city of Syracuse, Sicily. At that time Sicily was a self-governing colony in Magna Graecia.

Since Archimedes’ exact birth date was not known, this date of birth was based on a statement by the Byzantine Greek historian John Tzetzes. He wrote that Archimedes lived for 75 years.

 Heracleides, a friend to Archimedes, wrote his biography but the work was lost. There is therefore very little-known detail on the life of Archimedes.

No one knows if he was married or had children. Archimedes studied in Alexandria, Egypt. His classmates were Conon of Samos and Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Conon of Samos was his friend.

Archimedes addressed two of his works to his classmate Eratosthenes.

2. He spent most of his life in Syracuse

Syracuse – Wikimedia

Archimedes spent most of his life in Syracuse. As a young adult, Archimedes spent his time in the Egyptian city of Alexandria.

Alexandria had the world’s greatest library; it was built by Ptolemy Lagides. There were meeting rooms and lecture halls that drew scholars from all over the world.

Some of his work is well-looked-after in copies of the letters he sent from Syracuse to his friend Eratosthenes.

Eratosthenes acted like the chief librarian of the Library of Alexandria.

Unlike Archimedes, he was not selfish with sharing knowledge or information. He was the first to ever calculate the size of our planet accurately.

3. Archimedes helped explain how the lever works

By Domenico Fetti – Wikimedia

Although Archimedes did not invent the lever, he helped explain how it works.

He applied his understanding of geometry and physics to develop enormously powerful levers.

Archimedes calculated the length, strength and position of the lever and fulcrum point relative to an object being lifted.

This led to revolutionised methods of construction. It made him so certain about the infinite uses and function of the lever. He even claimed that he could move the earth using a lever.

4. Archimedes had an ‘aha’ moment while taking a bath

Photo by Alessandro Bianchi on Unsplash

You might have seen cartoon figures of an old man running naked through a town. Well, chances are that the caricature is that of Archimedes.

So, what led him to do that? you may ask. Here is what, King Hiero II challenged Archimedes to find out if a gold crown made for a temple was made of pure gold or mixed with silver.

Archimedes was to find out the purity of this crown without damaging it. As you can tell, this was no simple task.

He had to ponder over it while taking a bath. It was at this moment that the light bulb went on!

Archimedes discovered that there was a direct correlation between the water overflowing from the tub in relation to his immersed body.

Excited with the discovery, Archimedes jumped out of the tub and ran through the streets shouting Eureka, meaning I have found it.

Tests were done on the crown and indeed, the King was right, silver had been mixed in the crown.

His now famous word Eureka is used to express great joy for new discoveries.

5. His most famous accomplishment is the Archimedes principle

The Archimedes’ principle is a law of physics in hydrostatics.

It was formulated by Archimedes, the law states that a body totally or partly immersed in a water is subject to an upward force, also known as buoyancy, that is the same as the weight of the fluid it displaces.

This principle has several applications such as the hydrometer that determines the specific gravity of liquids.

It is also used in designing of ships and submarines as well as in controlling the flight of a hot-air balloon.

6. He made great contribution in mathematics

By Domenico Fetti – Wikimedia

Archimedes greatly contributed to the field of mathematics. He determined the exact value of pi.

Most of his contributions were by far ahead of his time, he was indeed a genius.

The only other person that understood his work fully back then was Isaac Newton, about 18 centuries after Archimedes had died.

He invented and developed methods similar to calculus and used them to find the area of a circle and an accurate estimation of the value of pi.

The value of pi (3.14) is said to be one of his most important achievements.

7. Archimedes’ screw changed how things were done

Archimedes’ screw was revolutionary during his time. He was able to fetch low-lying water upwards to canals for irrigation in farmlands.

This invention influence Leonardo da Vinci as he worked on developing functioning flying machine.

Archimedes’ screw is revolving screw-shaped blade inside a cylinder. It was turned by hand, and could also be used to transfer water from a low-lying body of water.

This invention is still in use today. There have been improvements on it.

8. His inventions were handy during war

By Giulio Parigi – Wikimedia

Archimedes applied his mathematical knowledge to create war machines. This made him one of the most famous people in Greece.

The Claw of Archimedes was used to defend Syracuse, his home city, from Roman attack. This machine had a hook system that lifted and toppled ships over.

When the Romans attacked his city in 214 BC, his machine sank several of their ships, that the Romans were confused as they did not know what hit them.

9. Most of the writings by Archimedes exist through other authors

The works of Archimedes were written in Doric Greek, a dialect of ancient Syracuse.

His original written work has not survived compared to that of Euclid.

The seven of his treatises that are known, have existed only through references made to them by other authors.

One of the authors to reference Archimedes is Pappus of Alexandria. He referenced him on Sphere-Making and another work on polyhedral.

During the Renaissance, the Editio Princeps (First Edition) was published in Basel in 1544 by Johann Herwagen with the works of Archimedes in Greek and Latin.

In 1586, Galileo Galilei invented a hydrostatic balance for weighing metals in air and water, he was inspired by the work of Archimedes.

10. A Roman soldier murdered him even after orders not to harm

Death of archimedes By Thomas Degeorge – Wikimedia

The Roman commander Marcellus was fully aware of the genius of Archimedes. He ordered that he be captured and should not be killed.

Marcellus captured the City of Syracuse and Archimedes was unaware, he was busy working on a new mathematical formula.

A Roman soldier who had been sent to get him ordered Archimedes to go and meet commander Marcellus. Archimedes refused saying he had to finish working on his formula.

The soldier was angered by this reply that he struck Archimedes with his sword. Archimedes died aged 75, with an unsolved mathematical formula.

11. Archimedes went to Egypt for formal education

, , via Wikimedia Commons

In Alexandria, Egypt, Archimedes attended a school established by a Greek mathematician (Euclid), where he majored in maths and physics. He made friends with famous thinkers like Conon of Samos, the astronomer who gave the constellation “Coma Berenices,” and Eratosthenes of Cyrene, a Greek scholar and head librarian at the Library of Alexandria, while he was still in school.

12. He neglected his own personal life 

Archimedes was all work with little play, although he is remembered as one of the best mathematicians in history, he did a lot of his discoveries at the expense of his personal hygiene and personal life, and he preferred to focus entirely on his job. Rumour has it that he was killed by a soldier who failed to recognize him because he was so preoccupied with a mathematical problem that he was unaware that Roman soldiers were attacking his city. 

13. Archimedes used to tease other Mathematicians

, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Archimedes was known for his cheery attitude and enjoyment of making fun of other people in addition to his outstanding achievements in mathematics. It is said that Archimedes often tasked other mathematicians with solving problems that he had already solved in order to test his capacity to match himself. In addition to occasionally leaving difficult riddles for others to complete, he was known to enjoy boasting about his own mathematical skills.

14. He wrote more than 20 books

Archimedes was a genius so it’s not so surprising that he managed to write more than 20 books on different topics. Unfortunately, though he had the intention of sharing his wisdom, a number of his books were lost only leaving a number of them. Some of his works that were discovered include “The Method” which shows how to solve mathematical problems. Regardless of how much of his work has been lost, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s still one of the greatest minds because of his influence on mathematics and science. 

15. He tried calculating the number of sand grains in the universe

Archimedes once tried to calculate the number of sand grains in the universe but his mission was impossible for obvious reasons, I mean, can you imagine attempting to count the sand in the universe? It goes to show that he was too smart, and his intellectual curiosity and dedication to mathematics, in general, would go on to inspire other mathematicians as well. 

Popular Archimedes’ Inventions and Innovations

Archimedes is one of the greatest humans the world was lucky to see. This legendary Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, and astronomer left a mark on the planet that has lived for centuries. Through his innovations and inventions, the world transformed into what it is today. I have been fortunate to study Archimedes’ inventions and innovations and realized that without him, we would not be where we are today. I can attest that this man, born around 287 BC had a brilliance that transcended the boundaries of his time.

Renowned for his problem-solving ability, Archimedes used his talent to make a range of contributions to various fields of study. He was a relentless man with pursuit of knowledge leading him to discover several ways of making work easier. For instance, Archimedes was pushed to invent the pulley system that helped in moving heavy loads around without the need to use a lot of energy. I intend to delve into some of the innovations and inventions attributed to Archimedes that are still famous today.

The following are five popular innovations and inventions attributed to Archimedes:

1. Archimedes’ Screw

, , via Wikimedia Commons

Amidst the need for farmers to irrigate their farms, Archimedes invented the screw pump, commonly known as the Archimedes screw. This simple device was created to help move water from low levels to higher levels using a windmill or rotated by manual labor. Farmers were able to irrigate their crops with ease using the Archimedes screw.

This invention has gone on to be incorporated into industries where it can be used to move smaller objects such as grains in and out of farming silos. This is an invention that has lived on for centuries.

2. The Iron Claw

, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

One of the most underrated but remarkable inventions by Archimedes was the iron claw. This was a massive mechanical crane that was built to lift heavy objects from the ground. The original purpose of the invention was to help in fighting against the enemies during his time.

The iron claw would be placed on the coastline and used to sink the enemy’s ships. This invention has been improved in the modern world to create modern-day cranes. Therefore, Archimedes’ contribution centuries ago has changed the world today.

3. Archimedes’ Principle

The most profound innovation by Archimedes was when he formulated a principle that now bears his name; the Archimedes principle. This was a formulation that was brought forth to understand how objects behave when they are immersed in water. The principle gave the foundation for studying buoyancy and creating objects that can freely float on water such as boats and ships.

According to this principle, any object immersed under water or any fluid experiences a force that is equivalent to the weight of the object. This explains why big objects can float on water because of the upward force. Thanks to Archimedes’ principle, we can have boats and ships.

4. The Pulley System

While the pulley system was in existence during his lift, Archimedes made significant changes that made the system easier and effective to use. Archimedes invented the use of different systems of compound pulleys and use of wheels supported by a rope to transfer energy and enable the operator to use less energy in lifting heavy objects. His improvement of the block and tackle system helped sailors to lift heavy objects.

5. The odometer

Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/speedometer-gauge-reading-at-zero-104836/

The first device that was used to measure distance traveled was the odometer invented by Archimedes. This less-known yet genius invention laid the ground for several inventions in the modern world with devices that are used to determine the distance traveled.

This device consisted of gear attached to the wheels of chariots or moving wheels. Every full rotation of the wheel was used to measure the distance traveled by knowing the number of rotations. He began an invention that has been re-invented today.

One man’s genius that was way ahead of his time led to innovations and inventions that are still used in the twenty-first century. I am a witness to Archimedes’ works that are still usable today; some of them needing little or no improvement. I can say that Archimedes was truly a once-in-a-lifetime human whose contribution to science will never be forgotten.