He proved that the volume of a surface area of the sphere are two thirds that of the cylinder, including it's bases, and discovered the Archimedes Principle, which states that a body (dead Roman body) immersed in a fluid experiences a buoyant force equal and opposite of the weight of fluid it(the dead Roman body) displaces, he observed this by studying dead bodies (dead Roman bodies) floating in the ocean. But lets skip the rest of the boring history lesson and get right down to the juicy bits, this article is about how Archimedes used the genius he possessed to invent killing machines that equal some of the technologies we use today and how he used these machines to kill scores of unsuspecting Romans. Archimedes was born Syracuse, a bustling, self- governing seaport located in Magna Graecia, along the coast of Southern Italy. Plutarch wrote (not the Plutarch from The Hunger Games) that Archimedes was the son of an astronomer and was related, by birth, to King Hiero II of Syracuse. So when the considerable eye and military force of the Romans turned toward Syracuse's coast, King Hiero put his secret weapon, Archimedes, to good use. Here are 4 ways Archimedes perfected the art of killing Romans.
3. The Claw
This weapon was invented by Archimedes to defend the seaward portions of the Syracuse city wall against attacks from the Roman's huge navy fleet. The Romans were almost unbeatable when they set their warships upon a nation, and they did eventually defeat Syracuse, but not without getting a run for their money. The claw or "Iron Hand," was a like a crane that extended over the city wall with a grappling hook fitted at it's business end, and when attached to attacking ships by propelling it at them until it sinks it's hooks in, it would pull the ship partially out of the water, and then suddenly drop it back in causing it to capsize. On the Roman's end it must have been a spectacular and terrifying sight to see, the infamous Roman navy vessel brought to it's knees and lifted almost completely out of the water and flung back in like it weighed no more than a sack of potatoes. The Romans probably saw this as an act of the gods, forever placing Archimedes and his sovereign, King Hiero the II, in the history books.
2. Heat Ray
The Heat Ray of Archimedes used highly polished bronze or copper shields that acted as mirrors to focus the sun's power on incoming enemy ships to set them on fire. He would have needed hundreds of copper shields, about three hundred to focus enough solar power, but with the king's ear who's to say he couldn't procure them. Many have tried this experiment and failed, like Mythbusters who tried and failed not once, but several times. Others have show that if the experiment is executed correctly, (like you will see at the bottom of #3) there is more than enough solar power focused to raise temperatures to 570 degrees Fahrenheit, the minimum temperature needed to set wood on fire. The trick is in the curvature of the reflective surface, like the first video at the top of this article shows, with the right curvature the death ray becomes a very powerful and dangerous weapon. The Solar II power plant near Barstow in California uses this same technology with 2,000 curved mirrors to reflect the heat of the sun back at it's solar receiver to make 10 megawatts of power a day. The electricity generated from all three of it's plants is enough to power more than 140,000 homes in California during peak hours. "Eureka!"
1. Steam Cannon
A steam cannon is a cannon that uses only heat and water, or steam, to launch a projectile. Archimedes invented it first during the Siege of Syracuse, and purportedly killed many Romans with his steam powered death machine. The copper device would be placed in a furnace, one end of the tube would be capped and the other loaded with a projectile.The Romans realizing how difficult a siege would be against Archimedes's inventions, brought their own assault weapons including the sambuca, a floating siege tower with grappling hooks, as well a ship mounted scaling ladders the were lowered with pulleys onto the city walls. When Archimedes countered each one of these with his own invention, the siege dwindled down to a stalemate. Until the Roman General, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, learned of an annual festival in Syracuse, for their goddess Artemis, and sent a party of Roman soldier to kill the 78 year old Archimedes. After Archimedes's assassination, Syracuse quickly fell to the Romans but Archimedes's prowess lived on. Leonardo da Vinci modeled his steam cannon after Archimedes's cannon, which he named the Architonnerre after Archimedes, in the 1500's. The Holman Projector was a World War II steam cannon with limited success, shaming more modern scientists. Now, we use this same steam powered technology to launch fighter jets off our Navy's air craft carriers, but even some of today's scientists have limited success in recreating this technology. The first video on this list shows the steam cannon's awesome power when used correctly.
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