| Archimedes | pos>pr. n.. [ Gr. 'Archimh`dhs. ] Born at Syracuse about 287 b. c.: died at Syracuse, 212 b. c. The most celebrated geometrician of antiquity. He is said to have been a relative of King Hiero of Syracuse, to have traveled early in life in Egypt, and to have been the pupil of Conon the Samian at Alexandria. His most important services were rendered to pure geometry, but his popular fame rests chiefly on his application of mathematical theory to mechanics. He invented the water-screw, and discovered the principle of the lever. Concerning the latter the famous saying is attributed to him, "Give me where I may stand and I will move the world " (do`s pou^ stw^ kai` to`n ko`smos kinh`sw). By means of military engines which he invented he postponed the fall of Syracuse when besieged by Marcellus 214-212 b. c., whose fleet he is incorrectly said to have destroyed by mirrors reflecting the sun's rays. He detected the admixture of silver, and determined the proportions of the two metals, in a crown ordered by Hiero to be made of pure gold. The method of detecting the alloy, without destroying the crown, occurred to him as he stepped in the bath and observed the overflow caused by the displacement of the water. He ran home through the street naked crying heureka, "I have found it." He was killed at the capture of Syracuse by Marcellus. Century Dict. 1906 [ PJC ] |
