Archimedes and the History of Military Engineering

Archimedes was known for his work on war engines. He held the Romans at bay for two years when they were laying siege to his city and only managed to defeat Syracuse, Archimedes' city, through deceit because someone betrayed the Syracuseans. So he could do both very abstract, sophisticated advanced geometry and build machines which were all the more accurate and effective because of their mathematical foundations. And they were capable of really astonishing feats of engineering as well.