The Glory of Discovery

Archimedes was always fascinated by technical problems, even from an early age. And his interests were ecumenical, ranging from mechanics to pure mathematics along with many subjects in between. The thing that motivated him was a deep interest in discovery and the glory that derives from it. The best example of the glory of discovery can be found in the story behind Archimedes's Eureka!' moment. Archimedes has been charged by King Hiero II to discover whether his gold crown is made of pure gold or whether his goldsmith cheated him. He noticed that it was somewhat lighter than it was supposed to be.

Archimedes is given a piece of gold similar in weight to the crown and he initially cannot figure out how to test for silver in the crown. He spends days mostly staring at the crown and the gold lump, foregoing bathing...