Page 6 - Italian-American Herald - November 2022

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Archimedes: His theories produced innovations still in use today
Continued from front page
At the age of 18, he traveled to Egypt
to study at the great library of Alexandria. One of the first things he saw on his arrival was a lighthouse, also called the Pharos
of Alexandria. It was acclaimed as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. This technological triumph, thought to be
over 350 feet tall, is the archetype of all lighthouses since. In Alexandria, he became friends with Eratosthenes of Cyrene, head of the library and credited as the person who first calculated the circumference of the earth. He also became friends with another intellectual, Conon of Samos,
who was a well-respected astronomer and mathematician.
After returning to Syracuse, he worked for King Hieron II, who may have been related, as an engineer and problem-solver. One of his most important discoveries was the relation between the surface and volume of a sphere and its circumscribing cylinder. He is known for his formulation of a hydrostatic principle
(known as Archimedes’ principle) and a device for raising water used, known as the Archimedes screw, a method still used today. The screw was a cylinder enclosing a twisted blade that rotated upwards when turned by a crank. He is also credited with inventing the odometer during the First Punic War. The invention was described as a cart with
a gear mechanism that dropped a ball into a container after each mile traveled.
One of his most interesting discoveries was his theory on floating bodies. This principle established that any floating object displaces its own weight of the fluid it is in. For this he became known as the father of hydrostatics. Historians believe he arrived at this conclusion when he was determining how he could float a large ship. The ship, designed by Archimedes and built by Archias of Corinth on the orders of Hieron II, was named Syrakosia or Syracusia. At the time it was the largest transport ever built. She was too big for any port in Sicily, and the ship only sailed from Syracuse to Alexandria, Egypt.
The historian Moschion of Phaselis wrote
that the Syracusia could carry a cargo of 1,600 to 1,800 tons and a capacity of 1,942 passengers. Guarded by more than two hundred soldiers, she was also fitted with
a catapult.
Little is known about the outside
appearance of the ship, but the Greek writer
Athenaeus wrote that the top deck, which was wider than the rest of the ship, was supported by beautifully crafted wooden Atlases instead of simply wooden columns. This deck featured eight towers, equipped with two archers and four fully armed men. On the bow of the ship was a raised platform
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With the use of an enormous lever and fulcrum, Archimedes claimed he could move the Earth.
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