🛁Archimedes
Ancient Greek Mathematician, Physicist, and Inventor, One of the Greatest Scientists of Antiquity
Those Who Set the World Down in Writing · Scholars & Explorers
The Principle of BuoyancyThe Principle of the LeverThe Invention of Military Machines
Who they are
Archimedes (c. 287–212 BC) was a mathematician, physicist, and inventor of the ancient Greek city-state of Syracuse in Sicily, noted in mathematics for such achievements as computing precise bounds for pi by the method of exhaustion and deriving the formulas for the volume of the sphere and cylinder, his rigorous method of mathematical proof preceding the formal founding of modern European calculus by nearly two thousand years. He systematically expounded the principle of the lever and the law of buoyancy (Archimedes’ principle), and by tradition said "give me a place to stand and I will move the whole earth," vividly displaying his near-obsessive confidence in the mechanical principle of the lever. During the Roman siege of Syracuse he designed and built a series of defensive military machines including catapults and the "iron claw" (said to be able to lift an entire enemy warship and smash it), greatly slowing the Roman siege, and when the city at last fell he was, by tradition, absorbed in a geometric figure drawn on the ground and, failing to respond promptly to a Roman soldier’s challenge, was cruelly killed — this legend of "still thinking about mathematics to the death" thereafter long served as one of the most classic historical images in Western culture shaping the figure of the "pure scientist."
Primary sourcesPlutarch, Parallel Lives, "Life of Marcellus"Archimedes’s own surviving mathematical works
Key stories
"Eureka!" and the Principle of Buoyancy
By tradition the king of Syracuse commissioned Archimedes to determine whether a crown was adulterated; unable to find a way, one day soaking in a public bath he noticed that his body entering the water made the level rise, and thereby grasped that he could compute the volume and density of an object by measuring the water it displaced, and in his excitement ran naked into the street shouting "Eureka!" (meaning "I have found it!") — an anecdote whose details may be later exaggeration, but which vividly conveys his near-fanatical devotion to scientific discovery.
"Do Not Disturb My Circles"
When the Roman army at last took Syracuse in 212 BC, Archimedes was by tradition absorbed in working out a geometric figure on the ground, and when a Roman soldier came to disturb him he said without looking up, "Do not disturb my circles"; this attitude of disregarding his own safety and concentrating on mathematical thought enraged the soldier, who killed him on the spot — the Roman commander Marcellus had earlier specially ordered that the life of this renowned scientist be spared, and grieved deeply on learning of his death.
Version differences
The two widely told anecdotes of the "Eureka" bath insight and the "do not disturb my circles" deathbed words both come from later classical writers’ relays, their details possibly embellished; modern scholars hold reservations about their literal truth but broadly acknowledge that they reflect the historical image of Archimedes as an absorbed researcher.
Echoes today
Below are how modern works borrow or reinterpret this name or story — not the original material. The two differ, so keep them apart.
"Archimedes’ principle" and the "Eureka moment""Archimedes’ principle" is still basic content in secondary-school physics education, and the "Eureka moment" has become a common English expression for a moment of sudden insight.