Archimedes : The First Great Inventor

Archimedes was the most celebrated of the Greek Inventor. He was born in Sicily, in the Corinthian colony of Syracuse, in the year 287 B.C., and when a very young man, was fortunate enough to enjoy the patronage of his relative Hiero, the reigning prince of Syracuse. The ancients attribute to Archimedes more than forty mechanical inventions—among which are the endless screw; the combination of pulleys; an hydraulic organ, according to Tertullian; a machine called the helix, or screw, for launching ships; and a machine called loculus, which appears to have consisted of forty pieces, by the putting together of which various objects could be framed, and which were used by boys as a sort of artificial memory...

Hiero, when he became King of Syracuse, decreed that a crown of gold, of great value, should be placed in a certain temple as an offering to the gods, and sent to a manufacturer the correct weight of gold. In due time the crown was brought to the King, and a beautiful piece of work it was. The weight of the crown was the same as that of the gold, but a report was circulated that some of the gold had been taken out and silver supplied in its place. Hiero was angry, but knew no method by which the theft might be detected. He therefore requested Archimedes to give the matter his attention.

While trying to solve this problem Archimedes went one day to a bath. As he got into the bath-tub he saw that as his body became immersed the water ran out of the tub. He quickly saw how he could solve the problem, leaped out of the bath in joy, and, running home naked, cried out with a loud voice "Eureka! eureka!" (I have found it! I have found it!)...