Archimedes was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer and inventor, born in the Sicilian city of Syracuse around 287 BC. He is regarded as one of the leading scientists of classical antiquity.

His mathematical work included methods for calculating areas and volumes, an accurate approximation of pi, and techniques that anticipated integral calculus. In physics he described the principle of buoyancy and the law of the lever, and he is credited with several mechanical inventions, including the water-raising device known as Archimedes’ screw.

During the Roman siege of Syracuse, he is said to have devised machines to defend the city. Ancient accounts state that he was killed by a Roman soldier around 212 BC. Many of his writings survived and shaped the later development of mathematics and science.