Technology Lost to Time VIII: Archimedes, Circles, & Crowns

by | Jul 12, 2022 | History, Physics, Science, Story, Technology

Artist Depiction of Archimedes "Moving The Earth"

The man whose last words were, “Do not disturb my circles,” and is legendary for coining the phrase “Eureka!” while running through the streets of Syracuse wet and naked as the day he was born after having deduced the laws of buoyancy is often compared to Einstein for his contributions to science and math as a whole. This man is none other than Archimedes, proclaimer of, “Give me a place to stand and I will move the earth.”

In this edition of Technology Lost to Time, I am going to give a very brief biography of one of my favorite men in history instead of focusing on any individual technology, as his genius mind is the originator for so many concepts, contraptions, and witticisms that to list them all would be nigh impossible. On the contrary, focusing on any one would only diminish the others, so here we go.

In the Sicilian city-state of Syracuse, under the rule of tyrant Hieron II, Archimedes dwelled. The Second Punic War set the stage for much of his later life, and his inventions became part of the set dressing to the drama.

The war was worthy of Tolkien’s pages, filled to the brim with mythical beats with grey skin and tusks seemingly protruding from foaming mouths, the machines of Archimedes found their place. Ironically, almost all of his machines were designed to test his mathematical theories, as he viewed himself as a mathematician first and inventor second.

Under siege by the Romans, Archimedes devised a number of incredible ways to help his mother-city navigate the perilous storm. A claw machine, which opposing Roman captain Marcellus described as follows, “Archimedes uses my ships to ladle seawater into his winecups.”

The son of a noted astronomer, Archimedes studied at the school of Alexandria, presumably under Euclid himself. This would make sense given his almost maniacal fascination with geometry and geometric proofing in later years and has led scholars to speculate about whether or not he was distantly related to the king he is so famous for serving. Though in the Greek world, Hieron would have been known as a tyrant.

Archimedes Screw
Upon his return, among his earliest inventions would have been the Archimedes Screw, which it must be noted that Archimedes himself never claimed to invent, but in 234 BC did bring back with him from Egypt, whereupon it found common use in irrigation, flood management, and much more. Centuries later, Diodorus ascribed the screw to Archimedes, and I am personally willing to credit him with at minimum introducing it to the Greek world.

Mock-up Of the Archimedes Screw

The design was simply a screw (Or helical surface) contained within a hollow pipe that was then cranked by hand to draw water from a lower place to a higher one. The simple and genius design still finds use today in many areas of hydroelectric engineering, flood management, and even basic irrigation systems still reliant on hand-crank power.
Law of Buoyancy
(Archimedes Principle)
In service of Hieron, legend has it that Archimedes was asked to solve the problem of a golden crown the tyrant had commissioned by a local goldsmith, having provided the necessary weight in gold material himself. Upon receiving the finished product, the wary tyrant suspected the crown to be a gold-plated mockery of his request, assuming the goldsmith had simply used a silver alloy then plated it with gold, pocketing the difference. Hieron requested Archimedes to look into it, whereupon the mad genius dove headfirst into the problem, refusing to eat, sleep, or bathe until he’d cracked the case. Unfortunately for him, he’d begun to reek. So bad, in fact, that his students apparently tossed him into the public baths and refused to see him until he’d properly cleaned himself.

Archimedes Rising from the Tub

Noticing how his body caused the water to slosh over the lid of the tub, it dawned on him that water displacement was not only a thing, but he’d discovered the law of buoyancy as a consequence.

Or so the story goes.

In truth, the scenario was likely a tad more complex and involved a ship that hadn’t been rivaled until the Titanic called the Syracusia. (Displayed below)

Syracusia as Imagined in 1798

Archimedes was commissioned by Hieron to construct this titanic behemoth you see. According to historian Moschion of Phaselis it could carry a cargo up to 1800 tons and had a capacity of 1,942 passengers. Constructed in 240 BC with the ability to bear roughly 200 soldiers, it took around a year to fully construct. However, not much is known how the ship actually looked, but according to Athenaeus, it sported decorations of ivory and marble, all public spaces were apparently floored with mosaics depicting the entirety of the Iliad, and the upper levels of the ship included amenities like an indoor garden and an indoor bathroom with hot water. Not to mention the supposed eight towers equipped with two archers each on the main deck, which would have been wider than the rest of the ship, and the raised platform for fighting and the placement of a giant catapult and the twenty visible rows of oars protruding from the sides. It was so massive that it didn’t fit in the harbors at Syracuse and was instead renamed the Alexandria and sailed there as a gift to Ptolemy III Eurgetes in Egypt. It disappears from the historical record after this maiden voyage.

What does this have to do with the law of buoyancy and a golden crown?

It could be due to a trick of linguistics that the crown story and the Syracusia got mixed up at all. I mean, if not for a simple quirk of wording, the Bible easily could’ve been called the Buble, simply because both biblion and bublion meant “book” in Ancient Greek. In this case, the languages would have been Latin and Greek, and the word would’ve been corona in Latin and korone in Ancient Greek. They sound similar but mean very different things. In my language classes, we would classify them as “false friends”. The first refers to a crown, but the second refers to the keel of a ship.

And suddenly it all started to come together.

As to how the history got so muddled, I can’t possibly go into the specifics as I have no idea. However, it is a very cool coincidence. Perhaps Archimedes did get up from the baths and shout “Eureka!” at the top of his lungs after deducing buoyancy, but instead of a crown it was a keel all along.

Conclusion

Considering how long this article is getting and I’ve only just scratched the surface of the man, I’ve decided to make a follow up to this article as an unofficial entry into the larger series, which will focus on more of his theoretical work in geometry, physics, and math as well as wrap up the conversation of his siege weaponry. He was truly a mad genius, and the more I learn, the more in awe I am of the mind that conjured such practically impractical inventions to save his home from invasion.

Stay tuned for the follow-up!