Archimedes' principle
Archimedes (287–212 B.C.) was a legend during his lifetime. He was a brilliant mathematician and an inventor of the Archimedes' screw, a machine for raising water. Although the lever had been in use long before Archimedes, he worked out the theoretical mathematical principles of its use. He designed the pulley and the windlass, but is best remembered for his work with hydrostatics. His unforgettable cry “Eureka” has made him famous ever since. But it wasn't the cry, it was what he deduced: the Archimedes' principle of specific gravity. His remarkable discovery arose because Hieron, King of Syracuse in Sicily, wished to determine whether ...