BIOGRAPHY OF ARCHIMEDES

                                         

                        BIOGRAPHY OF ARCHIMEDES 

Archimedes was the ancient Greek inventorand mathematician who is remembered for being one of the greatest minds in all of humanhistory. His theorems became laws of physics, and hisequations became essential for future generations of scientists and engineers. While his great passion in life was the studygeometry, Archimedes also used his mind to invent weapons of war that successfully defendedthe city of Syracuse from Roman invaders. On today’s Biographic, we tell the storyof a man whose legacy has lasted thousands of years.

 A Life of Academic Achievement Archimedes was born in 287 BC in the cityof Syracuse, which is located on the east coast of the island of Sicily. He was the son of Phidias, who was a renownedmathematician and astronomer. When he completed his basic education in Sicily,Archimedes traveled to Egypt to complete his education. At the time, the city of Alexandria was knownfor being one of the greatest places to receive an education in the entire world. Of course, not everyone can afford to sendtheir child to Egypt for school, which leads people to believe that he may have been descendedfrom nobility. Many scholars claim that he was a relativeof King Hieron II, who was the ruler of Syracuse at that time. When Archimedes returned to Syracuse aftercompleting his education, he arrived with the object that is credited as one of hisfirst inventions. This was known as the “Archimedes Screw”.

 Scholars believe that Archimedes could haveborrowed the idea from something that had already existed in Egypt, but bringing itto Greece it truly revolutionized life for people living in Syracuse. This was a spiral-shaped device that couldbe placed into a river or a ditch of water, and when you turn the handle, water travelsuphill. This made it incredibly easy to fill a bucketwith water, and to drain an underground well or ditch. The device is now named after him, calledthe Archimedes Screw. It would later be used to water the HangingGardens of Babylon, which became one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

The Archimedes Screw is so efficient, it isstill sometimes to irrigate fields to this very day. Aside from these details of his achievements,we don’t know very much about the personal life of Archimedes. He actually did give the details of his lifeto his friend and biographer, Heracleides, but the text was lost over the course of time. We don’t even know if he was ever married,or had any children. But the stories of his greatest achievementswere based down through the years, which is how they still survived today. Many of these stories seem so outlandish,that they are often debated, and some historians consider to be legends. At the very least, we do know Archimedes’personality. According to the Greek biographer Plutarch,Archimedes was so hyper-focused on his work, that it became the most important thing inhis life.

 He often forgot to take cadre of his basichuman needs. "(Archimedes would) forget his food and neglecthis person, to the degree that when he was occasionally carried by absolute violenceto bathe or have his body anointed. He used to trace geometrical figures in theashes of the fire, and diagrams in the oil on his body. (He was) in a state of entire preoccupationand, in the truest sense, divine possession with his love and delight in science." The Golden Grown One of the most famous stories about Archimedesis that of the golden crown. This story was originally recorded duringthe first century BC by a Roman architect named Vitruvius, based on the tale that hadbeen passed down for generations by word-of-mouth. It has been retold again and again ever since. As the story goes, a local goldsmith in Syracusewas commissioned to create a golden wreath crown out of pure gold. These crowns were placed on the heads of thestatues of the Greek Gods and Goddesses in order to pay tribute to them. However, once King Hieron got the crown back,he was surprised by its weight. He believed that the goldsmith possibly swindledhim out of some of his gold by creating the crown by using silver, and then plating itwith gold.

 However, he had no way to prove that withoutdamaging the crown. Archimedes was given the task of figuringout of a golden crown was truly made of pure gold, or if it was simply a gold-plating ona cheaper metal. After he was given this problem to solve,he became obsessed with it, and this was all that he could think of day and night. He would write down mathematical equationswithout positive results. Just like always, he stopped eating, sleeping,and bathing while he tried to solve the problem. Eventually, his students dragged him intothe bath house to clean himself, because he was beginning to seriously reek. When he laid down in the bath, some of thewater splashed over the edge of the tub. He realized that the weight of his body dispersedthe water, and the excess had to leave the tub in order to accommodate his body. Suddenly, he realized that he could use thisto solve the issue of the golden crown. Apparently, he was so excited by this discoverythat he jumped out of the bathtub, and ran down the streets shouting, “Eureka!”-“I have found it!” without ever bothering to get dressed. People gasped and covered their children’seyes, while others laughed at the eccentric genius they all knew and loved. Some historians believe that this last partwas exaggerated, and that it may have just been a silly story told for fun. Even so, the practice of shouting the phrase“Eureka!” after a huge discovery is still used today. Vitruvius wrote, “The solution which occurredwhen he stepped into his bath and caused it to overflow was to put a weight of gold equalto the crown, and known to be pure, into a bowl which was filled with water to the brim. Then the gold would be removed and the king’scrown put in, in its place.

 An alloy of lighter silver would increasethe bulk of the crown and cause the bowl to overflow.” Once Archimedes proposed this solution tothe king, they compared the containers of water side-by-side, it was clear that thegoldsmith had, in fact, taken a lot of the gold for himself, and gave the king a gold-platedcrown. They had sufficient evidence to find him guiltyof stealing from the king. In modern times, there are some scholars whobelieve that this story has been over-simplified throughout the years, and that Achimedes mayhave used a more complex method in order to figure out the solution to the golden crown. Others say that it was a symbolic story, andthat the incident never happened at all. But we do know that it truly did happen, becausethese experiments resulted in the creation of the Archimedes Principle. This discovery would later become a law ofphysics, and began as the basics of fluid mechanics.

It is still used by engineers today. Now just before we get into Archimedes inventionsand discoveries let me tell you about todays sponsor Brilliant… Brilliant believe that learning maths, scienceand computer science doesn't have to be dull. To that end they've put together courses thatare all about story telling, interactive challenges and solving problems. It's a hands on approach that is a reallyexcellent way to learn - and currently they have over 50 interactive courses. Look, you're half way through this video,so your probably already the curious type, and Brilliant can be a great way to take thatcuriosity a step further and understand the world even more. -- For example, you could check out theircourse on geometery fundamentals, where you'll learn things like angle axioms, 3D geometery,coordinates and much more! Great intro to how geometery is used in thereal world! So, effective learning is all about problemsolving and Brilliant help you learn and pratice that. It's just a great compliment to videos likethis, all good to learn something here, but take it a step deeper on Brilliant! So if you want to support Biographics andget unlimited access to all of Brilliants in-depth math and science courses, you canhead over to brilliant.org/biographics to get 20% off their annual Premium subscription. And lets get back to it... Inventions and Achievements Throughout his lifetime, King Hieron II continuedto bring his requests to Archimedes, and he was often challenged to use his mind to createthe impossible.

 The King commissioned him to build a vesselknown as The Syracusia. It was said to have been one of the largestboats that was ever built in ancient times, and required the same amount of material thatwould normally go into building 60 ships. It took over 100 men to assemble it afterone year of work. According to the historian Moschion of Phaselis,the interior of the Syracusia was so extravagant, it would even impress people in modern times. The boat was to be constructed of exotic woodand marble. It had watchtowers staffed with soldiers,statues of the gods, fresh water baths, a massive dining hall serving the finest food,a gymnasium, a library, and a temple. Objects were made of ivory and gold. One of the largest pieces of original artworkthat was commissioned for the ship was an illustration of the entire epic of the Iliadalong the walls of the ship that had been hand-assembled in mosaic tiles.

King Hieron wanted to do more than just aluxury pleasure cruise along the coast line. He planned to take it across the Mediterraniansea. So, how could something so heavy actuallyfloat? Archimedes figured out The Law of Buoyancyand hydrostatics in order to make it all work. The King wanted the impossible, and yet Archimedeswas able to make it happen yet again. Without his calculations and the Law of Buoyancy,modern-day cruise ships and mega-yachts may not exist. Once the ship was finally finished, the peopleof Syracuse celebrated its completion, and nearly 2,000 people were allowed on board. tHowever, after its maiden voyage from Sicilyto Egypt, no one knows what happened to the famous ship. Aside from figuring out how luxury cruiseliners can float, Archimedes invented some pretty incredible things that we still useto this very day, like the Law of the Lever and Balance. He told the King that he could lift any object,no matter how heavy it was. He was quoted saying to the King, “Giveme a place to stand, and I will move the Earth”. Impressed and slightly skeptical, the Kingasked to see him lift a ship out of the sea. Through a set of cogs and pulleys, Archimedeswas able to sit down at one end of the lever and lift a ship that was full of heavy gear. While we take them for granted today, hissimple machine inventions of the level, pulley, and screw were completely revolutionary, andwould be essential to building modern society. All of this was incredibly impressive, buthis favorite achievements might surprise you. They were his geometric equations. In one of his publications called Method,he explained how he was testing various levers with geometric shapes. He would see how weights balanced againstone another with the center of gravity. Sometimes, he would see that something worked,but that wasn’t enough. He needed to use math to prove step-by-stepwhy it worked.

 These were some of the world’s first geometricproofs. Archimedes was so obsessed with calculatingmath problems, that he would carry around a tray of sand with him so that he could tracecalculations with his fingers. One of his most significant contributionsto math came from his publication called On the Measurement of the Circle, where he figuredout the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter is Pi, or 3.14. He worked on calculating the volume and surfacearea of various shapes and objects. He even created the system of using exponentsto describe large numbers. Before this time, Greek scientists would performan experiment, and draw conclusions from it afterwards. Archimedes would begin with math first, andthen perform experiments in order to attempt to see what would happen in reality. Through this form of experimentation, Archimedeswas responsible for so many theorems that would eventually be classified as laws ofphysics. Because of this, his mind has been comparedto Einstein. His brain was a truly remarkable level ofgenius that you rarely see but once in a lifetime. The Roman Invasion of Syracuse In the 3rd century BC, the Mediterranean basinwas split between the Carthaginians in the west, while the Greeks in the east. The Romans controlled Rome, of course, butthey were getting ready to invade the surrounding territory to build their empire. The Romans and the Carthaginians fought theFirst Punic War from 264 to 241 BC. The war ended with Rome taking the victoryover Carthage. This meant that Sicily was now a Roman territory. King Hieron II was able to maintain peacewith Rome, and remain and independent city, so long as they paid tribute in the form ofgoods.

This all changed in 218BC when The SecondPunic War began. In 215 BC, King Hieron II died, and King Hieronymusbecame the new ruler of Syracuse. He chose to switch the city’s loyalty fromRome, and became rivals with Carthage instead. Clearly, this was a huge mistake. From 214 to 212 BC, the city of Syracuse nowhad to fend off Roman invaders. So far in this story, you may think that Archimedeswas more of a nerdy type who was only concerned with maths. If you were to put him in a fight, you wouldn’texactly put your bets on him that he would win. But when the king gave him the task of inventingunstoppable war machines to fight the Roman Empire, his mind delivered. Archimedes may have been an old man in his70’s, but his mind was still sharp as a tack. Yet again, he was able to achieve the impossible. He created defense weapons that successfullydefended the city for at least two years. One of his most powerful weapons was knownas The Archimedes Claw. The claw was attached to his levels and pulleysystem. The claw would grab on to the front of a Romanboat, lift it up in the air, and drop it back into the sea. This would capsize the ship, dumping the crewand all of its weapons into the Medeterranian sea.

The Roman commander, Marcellus was quotedsaying, “Archimedes uses my ships to ladle sea water into his wine cups” But he didn’t stop there. Archimedes also created both large and smallcatapults that were able to blast holes through the Roman ships. According to Plutarch, "When Archimedes beganto ply his engines, he at once shot against the land forces all sorts of missile weapons,and immense masses of stone that came down with incredible noise and violence; againstwhich no man could stand; for they knocked down those upon whom they fell in heaps, breakingall their ranks and files.” Archimedes has also been credited for helpingSyracuse use “burning mirrors”, which reflected the sunlight onto the sails of theRoman ships, causing them to catch fire. The following scene was described in a 12thCentury text called The Book of Histories: “The old man [Archimedes] constructed akind of hexagonal mirror, and at an interval proportionate to the size of the mirror heset similar small mirrors with four edges, moved by links and by a form of hinge, andmade it the centre of the sun's beams--its noon-tide beam, whether in summer or in mid-winter. Afterwards, when the beams were reflectedin the mirror, a fearful kindling of fire was raised in the ships, and at the distanceof a bow-shot he turned them into ashes.”

The defense weapons were so successful, thatthey were responsible for killing thousands of Roman soldiers. So long as the continued to go after Syracuse,the men were killed by these machines. Commander Marcus Claudius Marcellus decidedthat it was futile to attack Syracuse, so they waited until they could find their perfectmoment to conquer the city. By 212 BC, Syracuse could not defend itselffor much longer. According to some historians, the citizensof the city were beginning to starve, because they were surrounded by the Romans and couldnot get their supplies. This starvation forced them to surrender. According to others, Syracuse refused to surrender,and Archimedes’ weapons were strong enough to hold them off. But the Romans managed to take advantage ofa weak spot in one of their land-facing defensive walls while everyone was busy celebratinga religious festival. Either way, Rome finally captured Syracuse,and ultimately won the Second Punic War. Death, and Legacy Marcellus Claudius Marcellus knew that Archimedeswas responsible for these glorious weapons, and he knew that he could be an asset to theRoman Empire. Once they captured the city, he gave strictorders that this genius was an asset, and must not be harmed. He gave the order to bring Archimedes to him. The only issue was that the Roman soldiershad no idea what Archimedes looked like. The finer details of the story of his deathchange depending on the source, but what we do know is that Archimedes was in the middleof working on his geometry on the beach. He was tracing images of circles and mathematicalequations in the sand.

 A Roman warrior walked over top of his geometricdrawings, which scattered all of his work. Archimedes was outraged, and seemed to betotally oblivious to the fact that this was a Roman soldier. According to legend, his last words were,“Do not disturb my circles!” before being cut down by the man’s sword. He was 75 years old. After his death, Archimedes was buried ina large tomb that represented his mathematical achievements. Even though he had destroyed so many Romanships, they still had a tremendous amount of respect for him, and scholars would visitto pay homage to his great mind. At the tomb, there was a statue of a sphereand a cylinder. This represented what Archimedes consideredto be his greatest achievement; “If a sphere is inscribed in a cylinder, then the sphereis 2/3 of the cylinder in both surface area and volume.” Years later, the famous Roman statesman namedCicero wrote that he wanted to pay his respects to the tomb of Archimedes. After searching for hours, he finally foundit near the Agrigentine gate in Syracuse. It was overgrown with vegetation, and clearthat no one had bothered to visit in a very long time. Cicero cleaned up the area, and wrote downthe inscriptions that he found on the tomb, so that it would never be forgotten by history. In modern times, people have theories as towhere the location of the tomb may be, but no one knows for sure.


 In the 1960’s, the Hotel Panorama claimedthat they discovered the tomb of Archimedes during construction, and that they preservedit in their court yard. However, some people believe that this wasjust a publicity stunt to attract more guests to the hotel. Years after his death, the works of Archimedeshad been re-written, passed down by scribes over and over again. As tragic as it sounds, there must be countlessnumbers of notes and texts that Archimedes created from his lifetime of work, and itwould have been lost or destroyed over time. Even though it was nearly impossible to findone of these missing original texts, it happened In 1906. A lost work known as the Archimedes Palimpsestwere discovered buried in an old Christian text. Way back in 1229 AD, a man named JohannesMyronas was reusing parchment from old books, and he unwittingly covered up the originalwork of Archimedes and replaced it with prayers. In 2008, the text was purchased by its presentowner who was open to the idea of allowing it to be dissected for research purposes. A group called The Friends of Archimedes gottogether to restore the 3rd Codex. A team from a variety of different professionalbackgrounds spent over 4 years restoring the manuscript. One of the scholars, William Noel, explainsin his TED Talk that they had to go through a painstaking process of removing glue andexamining the pages one-by-one under various light sources in order to reveal the hiddenworks of Archimedes. This group did not do this project for themoney, but rather, for the love of knowledge, and out of respect for Archimedes’ mind. They believed that this information shouldbe free to the public, so they made the entire 3rd Codex available to read online for free. The only catch is that you need to know howto read in ancient Greek. The odds that we will ever find more of hisdiscoveries like this are slim-to-none. But the work that we do remember from Archimedeswas enough to revolutionize modern-day math, science, and engineering. Without his brilliant mind, the world trulywould be a very different place.