Moving the World

Archimedes, said to be the ancient world’s greatest mathematician and one of the greatest in all of history, lived in Syracuse, on the eastern coast of Sicily and spent most of his life there. He was born sometime between 290 and 280 BC and died about 212-211 BC. Archimedes was a very close friend of King Hieron the II, who ruled at the time Archimedes lived. Whenever the King faced a tough situation he couldn’t solve on his own, he called on Archimedes for help. Archimedes was one of Syracuse’s most prominent citizens. As a young man, he studied in Egypt’s Alexandria, a renowned cultural center of the Hellenic world, where he gained some of his knowledge, and used it.

The only known family Archimedes had was his father, who was an astronomer named Phidias. It is also said that Archimedes could have possibly been related in some way to King Hieron and his son, Gelon. When Archimedes lived, one of the main events happening at that time was the Punic Wars. These two wars were concentrated entirely around Sicily. Rome and Carthage were battling it out to see who would control the island. The rulers were not concerned for the people or what they wanted. Welcome to politics. At this time, Archimedes made many inventions that helped defend Sicily from these invading countries.

Throughout his life, Archimedes made many different scientific discoveries and inventions. He discovered Hydrostatics, which dealt with the science of nature and how liquids behave when at rest. No other new facts were discovered about this until the 1800’s. It shows how difficult this process was and how gifted Archimedes was. He also discovered the law of Buoyancy, known as Archimedes principle. This helped sailors and ship makers greatly. Everyday, Archimedes searched for new answers to unexplained situations in life. He never wanted or desired to create anything that destroyed, but only things that would help people. In about 200BC, when the people of Carthage came onto the island, King Hieron asked Archimedes to make defense machines for protection. Even though he preferred not to make weapons, Archimedes did so anyway for the defense of his home. He made catapults, a machine to shoot arrows, and best known of all, a big claw that picked up ships out of the sea and threw them onto the rocky shores, destroying them. For months, Archimedes’ machines protected Syracuse.

Many of Archimedes great inventions still help us today. The Lever and Fulcrum are the basis of equipment used today, such as oars, crowbars, and scissors. Archimedes’ screw is used today by Egypt’s farmers to irrigate their fields. The screw has also inspired the creation of engines for boats, planes, and bilge pumps, using the same method. One of the best known, and we are most influenced by, is Archimedes discovery of Pi or 3.14159265, easier said as 3.14, which helped to define the area and circumference of a circle. Continually, we use it today and it has changed the course of Mathematics forever. This mathematician has changed the way we think. Archimedes told us, “Give me a lever long enough, and a fulcrum strong enough, and I will single-handedly move the world”.