Inventions of Archimedes: Solar mirrorsĪ worthy discovery for the scientist was the invention of formulas for calculating the surface area and volume of the ball. The scientist often refused to describe inventions in books, which is why not every formula he wrote has survived to the present day. The scientists were able to fully understand and disclose all the ideas of Archimedes, which reached their times in his surviving works only in the seventeenth century. He found the first generalized way to find tangents to a hyperbola, a parabola, and an ellipse. The scientist studied a flat curve known as the Archimedean spiral. From a geometrical point of view, he studied the possibilities of determining the tangent to a curve, from a physical point of view – the speed of a body at any given time. Inventions of Archimedes: the mechanical birdĪlso, the mathematician laid the foundations of differential calculus. Archimedes did not create the theory of integral calculus, but his work later became the basis for this theory. To this end, he perfected the method of exhaustion, invented by Eudoxus of Cnidus, and brought the ability to apply it to a virtuoso level. But the scientist's experience allowed him to develop General techniques for calculating quantities and areas. Inventions of Archimedes: water clockĮven before Archimedes, formulas were invented to calculate the areas of a circle and polygons, the volumes of a pyramid, a cone, and a prism. The main direction of his mathematical research was the problems of numerical analysis. According to Plutarch, Archimedes forgot about food and self-care when he stood on the threshold of another invention in this area. Mathematics and physicsĭiscoveries in mathematics were a real passion of the scientist. This book starts with a description of the well-known law of Archimedes. The same principle of the book structure, beginning with the proof of his law, Archimedes observed when writing the work On Floating Bodies. The test is based on the axiom that on equal shoulders, equal bodies will necessarily be balanced. Based on the proof of the law of leverage, he began to write the work On the Equilibrium of Flat Figures. The theoretical research of the scientist in the field of mechanics is of great importance. Inventions of Archimedes: Archimedes' screw And the 'Archimedes' screw,' designed for bailing out water, is still used in Egypt. These adaptations simplified the lifting and movement of heavy loads, allowing them to speed up and optimize the operation of the port. In particular, based on knowledge in this area, he made several block-lever mechanisms in the port of Syracuse. He laid out a detailed theory of the lever and effectively used this theory in practice, although the invention itself was known before him. The scientist was actively developing mechanical constructions.

After living for several years in Alexandria, Archimedes returned to Syracuse and lived there for the rest of his life. The scientist presumably received primary education from his father. For several centuries, this city was the cultural and scientific center of the civilized Ancient World. Portrait of ArchimedesĪrchimedes probably spent his childhood years in Syracuse, and at a young age, went to Alexandria of Egypt to find a suitable education. Plutarch also claimed that the scientist was a close relative of the excellent and skillful ruler of Syracuse, Hiero II. His father, presumably, was the astronomer and mathematician Phidias.

It is known that Archimedes was born in the Greek colony of Syracuse, located on the island of Sicily. It is difficult to assess the reliability of these data. The biography of Archimedes is known from the works of Titus, Cicero, Polybius, Livy, Vitruvius, and other authors who lived later than the scientist himself. The scientist spent several years in Alexandria, where he met and became friends with many other great scientists of his time.

Legends about Archimedes were created during his lifetime. The ancient Greek physicist, mathematician, and engineer Archimedes made many geometric discoveries, laid the foundations of hydrostatics and mechanics, created inventions that served as a starting point for the further development of science.

Archimedes inventions