Archimedes
The Complete History of Science
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The Legend of Archimedes
Archimedes is said to have invented a weapon called Archimedes' claw. This defended the walls of Syracuse by reaching down and grabbing enemy ships. But only very brief descriptions of these inventions survive. It's debatable how seriously we should take these stories around his life. For example, more than likely it would have relied on the use of a lever. And while he didn't invent the lever, we do know he did apply his considerable mathematical analysis to investigate the principle of levers. He realised the power of mathematics as a method of describing the physical world.
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