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You are here: Home / Science / Why Did Archimedes Say “Give Me a Place To Stand and I Can Move the World” and What Does It Mean?

Why Did Archimedes Say “Give Me a Place To Stand and I Can Move the World” and What Does It Mean?

February 12, 2020 by Karen Hill

One of Archimedes’ achievements was discovering the mechanics of the lever.

He knew a small force at one end of a lever could move a great weight if the pivot, or fulcrum were in the right spot.

“Give me a place to stand and I can move the world,” he said. King Hiero asked for a demonstration.

Archimedes had a big cargo ship hauled ashore by a large group of men. The ship was then loaded with cargo and passengers.

Archimedes attached a system of pulleys (a lever system using ropes instead of shafts) to the ship and sat on shore some distance away.

He made a slight turn of the handle attached to the pulleys, and the large ship was lifted toward him on shore.

Archimedes calculated the most accurate value of pi in the ancient world. Pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter and is used in many mathematical calculations.

His figure was nearly as accurate as that calculated by the most sophisticated computers of today.

Related Facts

  • Who discovered the fundamental principles of Levers and Buoyancy in physics and engineering?
  • How Did Archimedes Defend Syracuse From the Roman Army and What Types of Weapons Did Archimedes Invent?
  • Who Was Archimedes and What Was Archimedes’ Greatest Contribution To Science In the Ancient World?
  • What Is the Archimedes Screw, How Does the Archimedes Screw Work, and What Is It Used For?
  • What was the European Age of Exploration?
  • Why Did Archimedes Run Through the Streets of Syracuse Naked Yelling “Eureka!” When His Bathtub Overflowed?

Filed Under: Science

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « What Types of Tools Did Ptolemy and Other Ancient Astronomers Use To Calculate the Position of the Planets?
Next Post: What Is the Archimedes Screw, How Does the Archimedes Screw Work, and What Is It Used For? »

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