The Shasta courier., 1865-10-21
NUMBER 81.
Archimedes.

Archimedes, the most celebrated mathe.
matcian among the ancients. was born 286
years B. c.. He was native of Syracuse,
and related to King Hero. He was equally
skilled in the sciences of astronomy, geon.
etry, mathematics. hydrostatics and optics;
his aptness in solving problems had become
proverbial in Cicero's days, and his singular
ingenuity in the invention and construction
of warlike engines, is much dwelt upon by
Livv The combination of pulleys for rais-
ing immense weights, the endless screw, etc.,
were invented by him. He also invented
machine of glass that faithfully represented
the motions of all the heavenly bodies.
When Marcellus, the Roman consul, be.
sieged Syracuse, Archimedes constructed
machines which suddenly raised up in the
air the ships of the enemy from the bay be.
fore the CITY, and then let them fall with such
violence into the water that they sunk. He
set them also on fire with bis burning glasses.
BY such means, the genius and industry Of
Arehimedes were able to battle all the efforts.
and to destroy all the great and stupendous
machines and military engines of the Romans
during three successive years. The perse-
verance of Marcellus at last obtained tho
victory. The inattention of the inhabitants
during their nocturnal celebration Of the
| itSllFdlS VI Didid. lofOi Gu LIS OH0io bS
forcibly entered the town, and made himself
master of it. The Roman conqueror enrich
ed the capital of Italy with the spoils Of
! Syracuse. and when he was accused Of ra.
paciousness, for stripping the city of all its
paintings and ornaments, he confessed that
he had done it to adorn the public buildings
Of Rome and 10 introduce taste for the fine
arts and elegance of the Greeks among his
c1untrymen.
When the town was taken, the Roman
general gave strict orders to his soldiers not
to hurt Archimedes, and even offered q re.
ward to him who should bring him alive and
safe into his presence. All these precautions
were useless; the philosopher was 80 deeply
engaged in solving problem that he was
even ignorant that the enemy were in posses.
sion of the town; and soldier, without
knowing who he was, killed him, because be
refused to follow him. Marcellus raised a
monument over him, and placed upon it a
cylinder and a sphere; but the place re-
manned long unknown, till Cicero, during his
qu@storship in Sicily, found it near one of
the gates of Syracuse, surrounded with
thorns and brambes.
1t has been supposed by some that Archi
medes raised the site of the towns and vil-
lagos of Egypt and began those mounds of
| kept up from town to town, during the mum
dations of the Nile. The story of his burning.
glass had always appeared fabulous to some
of the moderns, till the experiments of Button
demonstrated it beyond contradiction. These
celebrated glasses were supposed to be re-
Electors made of metal, and capable of pro-
ducing their effect at bow-shot. The man
ner in which he discovered how much silver
a goldsmith had mixed with gold in making
golden crown for King Hero. is well known
to every modern hydrostatic, and in fact is
an interesting mathematical question which
finds place in most modern arithmetics, for
the exercise of the skill in figures of young
students in that noble science. Among the
wild schemes of Archimedes is his saying
that by means of his machines, he could
could move the earth with ease if placed on
a fixed spot near it. Many of the, works of
Archimedes are extant. The best edition of
his works is that of David Rivaltius, Paris.
1915.