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Archimedes

Scientists

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The brilliant Greek scientist Archimedes was born in Syracuse, Sicily in 287 B.C. His best-known invention was a machine for raising water, called Archimedes' screw. He is also famous for his work on buoyancy, or floating bodies, which led him to develop Archimedes' principle.

Archimedes' many mechanical inventions and war machines made him popular in his day. Archimedes' screw, for example, was used for raising water from ditches and emptying flooded ships. Archimedes also studied how levers worked and how geometry could be used to measure circles.

Archimedes' war machines held off Roman attacks for three years, but in 212 B.C. Syracuse was captured, and Archimedes was killed by a Roman soldier.