Archimedes
(287-212 B.C.)

Not much of real value was contributed by the ancients to mechanics or hydrostatics. The outstanding exception was the Greek scientist, Archimedes. He was born in Syracuse and was to die there when the city was captured by the Romans. Archimedes will ever be known because of his two contributions to science. The Archimedean principle: "a body plunged in a fluid loses as much weight as is equal to the weight of an equal volume of the fluid." Archimedes' Screw: which is an instrument for raising water, formed by winding a tube into the form of a screw around a long cylinder. Incidently, it was Archimedes who said that if he were given a lever long enough and a point to stand upon he could move the world.