The Real Story Behind Archimedes ‘Eureka’ Moment
One moment, two different stories
“I have found it” or “I have got it”
Then follows the burst of joy, enthusiasm, and pride in the discovery.
Eureka moment it is!
Indeed, each one amongst us might have experienced the eureka times. Celebrated, too. But, theirs a true story to the discovery of Eureka. And the ancient Greek scholar Archimedes is significantly associated with it.
Archimedes was a great mathematician, physicist, inventor, astronomer, and engineer. Most of his concepts, theories, and inventions are still prevalent and widely acknowledged.
However, his “Eureka” moment is greatly remembered across the globe.
Some of the great opportunities to learn exist in the moments when we are perplexed. These moments are characterized by wonder, imagination, and endless questions.
The only possible solution?
Delving into identifying the process, being curious about it, and then creatively discovering. Archimedes of Syracuse was remarkably brilliant at observation. His book “On Floating Bodies” describes his observations and inventions related to hydrostatics.
And the moment you feel like you derived something, a sense of victory prevails. So, it was with Archimedes. However, his excitement went overboard. Archimedes was so inclusively involved in his research that its ultimate findings left him going around naked and giving an exciting cry of — Eureka!
Eureka! Eureka! Supposed to have been his cry, jumping naked from his bath and running in the streets, excited by a discovery about water displacement to solve a problem about the purity of a gold crown.
A Roman architect, Vitruvius, first wrote down the Eureka story of Archimedes during the first century B.C. The above is the most talked-about Archimedes “Eureka” moment. We all have been listening to this version for quite a long time. Ironically, we believe it as well. It might be true, but the reason is still unfulfilling.
- What if there is a different version of the “Eureka” moment?
- What if the bathtub experiment is merely exaggerated?
- What if there is something left undiscovered?
I found such questions mind-boggling when reading about Archimedes. My curiosity resulted in going beyond the existent “Gold Crown” version. Well, my eagerness did land me into something unknown. Interesting, though!
The story behind Archimedes’ research is royal.
Archimedes of Syracuse acquired great persuasive skills. In one of his letters to Syracuse’s ruler, King Heiro II, he boasted of his intellectual abilities to move any heavy object in the world as desired.
In his words, Archimedes stated:
“Give me a place to stand and I will move the earth.”
Such confidence attracted the King’s attention. He gave Archimedes the special task of designing an exceptional ship.
Syracuse King, Heiro II gave Archimedes an exceptional task — To design a ship, the biggest and largest that he could build.
Archimedes proudly welcomed the request. He triggered his creative brain muscles for the same. He constantly thought about his ideas and examined them. His tremendous determination made him discover things with great vigour. Eventually, with creative instinct and prowess, he designed a ship leaving everyone spell-bound.
During his research and invention of the ship, Archimedes allegedly pronounced his famous “Eureka.” His excitement made him run naked as, during that time, he was in the bathtub. This moment is a bit exaggerated in various sources. However, the reality is during this research period; he allegedly ran in excitement over his discoveries.
The Tale of Syracusia
People of antiquity like the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians enjoyed sailing along the coastline. Why? Because they feared risking their lives in high tides, which prevailed in the middle of the seas. Nevertheless, they were able to travel later after the construction of the Syracusia ship.
The great scientific inventions by Archimedes gained him evergreen fame as one of the significant scholars of antiquity.
Designed by Archimedes, the Syracusia was an archaic sailing vessel constructed in the third century BCE. The ship was labelled as one of the biggest antique ships ever built in antiquity. You can call it the Titanic of the Ancient World. The ship’s specialty was that it could cross through the Mediterranean sea and wasn’t only restricted to coastal shores.
The material used for constructing this ship equated to the total materials required for building sixty regular size ships. Not only the ship’s size made it impressive, but also it was beautifully designed. Moreover, it was wonderfully constructed.
The interiors of the ship were exotic, having the palatial decor. It was intricately beautified with unique wood materials, floor construction composed of mosaic work from different stones. It also included statues, towers, a gymnasium, a library, and even incorporated a temple.
Overall, the ship looked modernized with exceptional facilities, which attracted the tourists.
The Ship’s name-change
The architects of Corinth built the ship according to Archimedes’ design. Unfortunately, the ship’s giant size made it impossible for harbours in Sicily to accommodate it. This became a problem for Syracuse King, Heiro II, who started thinking of possible solutions.
Finally, he made up his mind of gifting the ship to the King of Egypt, Ptolemy. Why? Because the Alexandrian port appeared as the only largest port which can accommodate the magnanimous ship.
Henceforth, the originally named “Syracusia” ship was renamed as “Alexandria.”
In the book Deipnosophistae, it is mentioned that the only information about the ship’s description and its load handling capacity was written by the historian Moschian of Phaselis.
Archimedes continued amazing the King with his massive potentials. In one of the great displays, Archimedes launched the ship single-handedly by using a system of pulleys. This block-and-tackle pulley system is remembered as one of the great technological inventions by the intelligent scholar.
Archimedes made great scientific inventions with his extraordinary skills. His potentials gained him the praise of honour and entitled him an eternal legacy. Globally, he is acclaimed as one of the leading scholars of antiquity who can move the world with his knowledge.
Ancient authors highly exaggerated the “Eureka” moment. They turned it into a story that had a likable probability of gaining the masses’ attention. I sincerely felt the ‘Crown’ version kept people hooked, whereby the real discovery behind Archimedes Eureka’s moment was numbed. That said, Syracusia must have been a marvellous ship designed by a genius mindset.
Archimedes profound discoveries can be brilliantly summed up in his words, whose inventions revolutionized the world:
“Eureka, Eureka! (I have found it, I have found it!)”
