Circa 287-212 B.C.E.
Scientist, Mathematician

Inventor. The Son of Phidias, an astronomer, Archimedes lived in the Greek city-state of Syracuse. Probably the greatest scientist and mathematician in antiquity, Archimedes's contributions to mechanics, physics, and mathematics were admired by later scientists, including the eighteenth- century English physicist Isaac Newton. His fame became legendary when he was attributed as saving his city from Roman sieges during the Second Punic War (218-201 B.C.E.). He was allegedly bathing when the mathematical formula for the displacement of water occurred to him and caused him to run through the streets of Syracuse shouting, "Heureka [I have found it]!" Among his inventions were a screw for lifting water, a planetarium, and a star globe. While there is no evidence that he visited Alexandria, he corresponded with Eratosthenes and other researchers at the Museum. Ultimately, despite his mechanical inventions, Syracuse fell...