The Greatest Engineer And Mathematician Of The Ancient World...

Hey,

Welcome to the seventh edition of The Athenaeum! I’m thrilled to have you here as part of this community. Every Wednesday, I’ll be sharing thoughts and insights on three topics that I find endlessly fascinating: beauty, philosophy, and business.

This week, we dive into the greatest engineer and mathematician of the ancient world…

Galileo called him “superhuman”. Tesla said he was the “ideal” inventor. And da Vinci was directly inspired by him.

Simply put, Archimedes was the greatest engineer and mathematician of the ancient world.

Here’s why:

Born around 287 BC, Archimedes was an inventor, mathematician, astronomer, and engineer from the city of Syracuse in Sicily.

Very little is known of Archimedes’ life other than his discoveries and inventions, of which there were many.

The ancient historian Polybius was the first to reference Archimedes about 70 years after his death, describing various war machines that the inventor built including catapults, a giant crane that destroyed ships, and various stone-throwing machines.

Many of Archimedes’ creations occupy the realm of legend—it’s not clear if they actually existed or not.

One such device is a giant claw employed to defend Syracuse from enemy ships…

Consisting of a crane-like arm from which hung a large metal grappling hook, the claw was dropped onto an attacking ship outside the city’s walls. It would then grip the ship and lift it upwards causing the ship to capsize and sink.

Another ingenious weapon that Archimedes is purported to have built is a heat ray—supposedly a large array of polished bronze or copper shields acting as mirrors which could have been arranged to focus sunlight onto attacking ships.

The focused sunlight was allegedly powerful enough to ignite wooden ships, and 2nd-century writers Lucian and Galen mention that during the siege of Syracuse Archimedes did burn some ships.

However, modern recreations have failed to prove the design plausible.

The most technologically advanced weapon attributed to Archimedes is a steam cannon called the “Architonnerre”.

Da Vinci wrote about it in the 15th century but credited Archimedes with the invention.

Leonardo describes the cannon:

“The Architonnerre is a machine of fine copper, which throws balls with a loud report and great force…it is wonderful to see its fury and hear the noise it produces”.

Apparently, the cannon used a boiler to rapidly heat water, transforming the water into vapor and creating enough steam pressure to launch a ball one talent in weight (~50-60 pounds).

Not all of Archimedes’ inventions were deadly, though. One of his greatest engineering feats was a small planetarium.

Roman writer Cicero describes its operation:

“When Gallus moved the globe, it happened that the Moon followed the Sun by as many turns on that bronze contrivance as in the sky itself, from which also in the sky the Sun's globe became to have that same eclipse…”

Archimedes tried his hand at ship-building, too.

Around 240 BC, Archimedes designed the “Syracusia”, a massive ship for Hieron II of Syracuse. It supposedly had a capacity of nearly 2000 passengers and included garden decorations, a gymnasium, and a temple dedicated to Aphrodite.

It was the largest ship in classical antiquity, featuring eight towers equipped with archers and infantrymen, and on its bow, a raised platform which housed a giant catapult.

It was basically an ancient, weaponized cruise ship.

On board the ship was one of Archimedes’ most famous designs: the Archimedes Screw.

Probably an improvement of earlier Babylonian and Egyptian designs, the screw was a way to pump liquids or granulated solids. The graphic below shows how it worked:

Though Archimedes was a prolific inventor, some of his greatest contributions were in the fields of physics and mathematics.

One important principle attributed to Archimedes is the “Archimedes' principle”...

This principle states that the upward buoyant force on a body immersed in a fluid is equal to the weight of the fluid that the body displaces.

It’s a law of physics that’s fundamental to fluid mechanics.

The story goes that the King of Syracuse asked Archimedes to deduce if there was any silver in his crown, which was supposedly pure gold.

Archimedes noticed that during baths the level of water rose as he got in, and realized this principle could determine the crown’s volume, and thus its density (gold and silver have different densities).

He was so excited that he took to the streets, still naked, crying "Eureka!"

Archimedes also made many contributions to the field of mathematics. For example, he discovered a technique called the “method of exhaustion” for determining the areas of figures and the value of pi that is similar to modern calculus.

Archimedes’ incredible scientific achievements met an end when he was killed by Roman soldiers attacking his city in 212 BC.

According to legend, he was contemplating a mathematical diagram and refused to leave at the soldiers’ command, so they killed him out of anger.

Archimedes' stands apart from all other scientists and inventors from antiquity in his sheer breadth of knowledge and ingenuity.

Mathematicians Alfred Whitehead and George Simmons said of him:

“... in the year 1500 Europe knew less than Archimedes who died in the year 212 BC .”

Tesla praised him and summed up the noble work of all inventors:

“Archimedes was my ideal. I admired the works of artists, but to my mind, they were only shadows and semblances. The inventor, I thought, gives to the world creations which are palpable, which live and work.”



Last week I asked you:

Can something be considered beautiful if it evokes feelings of sadness or melancholy, rather than happiness and pleasure?

A big question — and your answers were phenomenal:

Question of the Week:

Why is it important to support and preserve artistic traditions and practices?

I'd love to hear your thoughts! Email me your answers, and I'll share them in next week's newsletter. Looking forward to your insights!


That's a wrap. Thanks for reading. See you guys next Wednesday.

Peace out,

Flo

P.S. If you enjoyed this, share it with a friend or two. Let's grow this community together. Until next time!