Archimedes

Statue of Archimedes. Handmade of alabaster,and painted in museum patina.

Archimedes (287-212 BCE) was a Greek mathematician and mechanical engineer, a pioneer in both fields, many centuries ahead of his contemporaries. Today he is best known for formulating Archimedes’ Principle, also known as the law of buoyancy, but he observed many other laws of physics and recorded his observations as mathematical theorems.

Archimedes’ Principle

Like all important figures in antiquity who were supremely talented, his story became filled throughout the centuries with many myths .  And other non-historical accounts to sustain his specialness. One of the first details we read about Archimedes  is the famous scene where he runs wet and naked through the streets of Syracuse shouting “Eureka!, Eureka!” (“I have found it!”).

Archimedes’ Principle, also is known as the law of buoyancy.  IT  states that any object fully or partially immersed in a fluid will experience an upward force equal to the weight of the displaced fluid. This principle offered Archimedes a test for the material make-up of the crown. Back home he discovered that a given weight of silver, when immersed, displaced more water than an equal weight of gold.

HIS DISCOVERIES

Despite all of the physical laws he discovered, he never actually referred to them as laws.  Nor did he describe them in reference to observation and measurement.   He instead treated them as pure mathematical theorems.   Within the logic of a system similar to the one Euclid developed for geometry.  Greek science during Archimedes’ day had a tendency to undervalue observations and favour logical arguments: Greeks believed that the highest knowledge was based on deductive reasoning. This, however, did not prevent him from experimenting; in fact, he stands out from his contemporaries because he successfully applied his theoretical knowledge into practice. Unlike his inventions, his mathematical writings were little known in antiquity