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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



... preach the new dispensation of Lingwood Evans—magnificent, brutal, and blood-loving—ah! if Illowski could but discover this hidden philosophers stone, this true Arcana of all wisdom, this emotional lever of Archimedes, why then the whole world would be his: his power would depose Pope and Emperor. And again he dreamed the dreams of madmen—his mother had been nearly related ...
— Melomaniacs • James Huneker

... churches, afterwards expressing the great delight and profit which he had derived from his visit. He was entertained while there by Mr. Robertson, an eminent mathematician, then superintending the publication of an edition of the works of Archimedes. The architectural designs of buildings that most pleased him were those of Dr. Aldrich, Dean of Christchurch about the time of Sir Christopher Wren. He tore himself from Oxford with great regret, proceeding by Birmingham ...
— The Life of Thomas Telford by Smiles • Samuel Smiles

... wrong, as they generally are, even in the commonest things; because they seldom look beyond their own tenets, unless through captiousness, and because they argue more than they meditate, and display more than they examine. Archimedes and Euclid are, in my opinion, after our Epicurus, the worthiest of the name, having kept apart to the demonstrable, the practical, and the useful. Many of the rest are good writers and good disputants; but unfaithful suitors ...
— Imaginary Conversations and Poems - A Selection • Walter Savage Landor

... bishops, who proposes to send ship, by the force of steam, with all the velocity of a ball from the mouth of a cannon, and who pretends by the power of his steam-impelled oars to beat the waters of the ocean into the hardness of adamant; or to the burning-glasses of Archimedes, recorded in their effects by credible writers, actually imitated by Proclus at the siege of Constantinople with Archimedes' own success, yet boldly pronounced by some of our best judges, demonstrably impracticable in themselves, and lately demonstrated by some ...
— Notes and Queries, Number 192, July 2, 1853 • Various

... 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 must be able to lose all consciousness of this relative personality, ...
— The Doctrine and Practice of Yoga • A. P. Mukerji


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