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Archimedes   /ˌɑrkəmˈidiz/   Listen
noun
Archimedes  n.  (Paleon.) An extinct genus of Bryzoa characteristic of the subcarboniferous rocks. Its form is that of a screw.



proper noun
Archimedes  n.  Born at Syracuse about 287 b. c.: died at Syracuse, 212 b. c. The most celebrated geometrician of antiquity. He is said to have been a relative of King Hiero of Syracuse, to have traveled early in life in Egypt, and to have been the pupil of Conon the Samian at Alexandria. His most important services were rendered to pure geometry, but his popular fame rests chiefly on his application of mathematical theory to mechanics. He invented the water-screw, and discovered the principle of the lever. Concerning the latter the famous saying is attributed to him, "Give me where I may stand and I will move the world". By means of military engines which he invented he postponed the fall of Syracuse when besieged by Marcellus 214-212 b. c., whose fleet he is incorrectly said to have destroyed by mirrors reflecting the sun's rays. He detected the admixture of silver, and determined the proportions of the two metals, in a crown ordered by Hiero to be made of pure gold. The method of detecting the alloy, without destroying the crown, occurred to him as he stepped in the bath and observed the overflow caused by the displacement of the water. He ran home through the street naked crying heureka, "I have found it." He was killed at the capture of Syracuse by Marcellus.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Archimedes" Quotes from Famous Books



... definable as perfect emotional solitude, close study, absolute chastity and celibacy, and at last the merging of the personal into the impersonal. This austere life is the secret of all greatness. You know how Archimedes when threatened with death by the vandalistic invaders of his country raised his head and said 'Please do not disturb my circles' and nothing more. This man was practising Yoga unconsciously. You ...
— The Doctrine and Practice of Yoga • A. P. Mukerji

... have nothing to do but to ride round their plantations, hunt, attend the races, study politics for the next legislative or congressional campaign, and decide how to use the prodigious mechanical power, of slave representation, which a political Archimedes may effectually wield for the destruction of commerce, or any thing else, involving the prosperity of ...
— An Appeal in Favor of that Class of Americans Called Africans • Lydia Maria Child

... qualities, until at last humanity has given its sanction to the Divine words, "Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant." The few who have successfully grasped the lever of which Archimedes dreamed are those who have attained the highest power to serve ...
— An Original Belle • E. P. Roe

... mentioned various persons whose speculations he seemed to have ignored; among others, Thales. The reply was, "I am instructed by the author to inform you that he is perfectly acquainted with the works of Thales, Euclid, Archimedes, ..." I had some thought of asking whether he had used the Elzevir edition of Thales,[172] which is known to be very incomplete, or that of Professor Niemand with the lections, Nirgend, 1824, 2 vols. folio; just to see whether the {84} last would not have been the ...
— A Budget of Paradoxes, Volume II (of II) • Augustus de Morgan

... published a little slip and entered it at Stationers' Hall. He says he has done it by actual measurement; and I hear from a private source that he uses a disc of twelve inches diameter which he rolls upon a straight rail.' The 'rolling is a very creditable one; it is as much below the mark as Archimedes was above it. Its performer is a joiner who evidently knows well what he is about when he measures; he is not wrong by 1 in 3000.' Such skilful mechanicians as the builders of the pyramid could have obtained ...
— Myths and Marvels of Astronomy • Richard A. Proctor


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