You may not know much about an ancient Greek mathematician and inventor named Archimedes. But I bet you know the most famous thing he said.
The king of Syracuse once asked Archimedes to investigate a possible fraud. The king had hired some artisans to make a crown out of an ingot of pure gold. When he received it, the king feared the goldsmiths had swindled him by substituting silver for some of the gold.
Melting it down would have uncovered the truth, of course, but destroyed the crown in the process. Momentarily stumped, Archimedes decided to take a bath. When he got into the water, its level rose. âEureka!â he exclaimed â âI have found itâ in Greek. He realized that comparing the buoyancy of the crown and an equal weight of pure gold would answer the kingâs question.