Archimedes: life of the week

Hello and welcome to Life of the Week, where leading historians delve into the lives of some of history's most intriguing and significant figures, from ancient Egyptian pharaohs and medieval warriors to daring 20th century spies. Today we know Archimedes best as a mathematician. But if he was known for anything in his own time, it was for his war machines, not least a great claw that could pluck ships straight from the ocean. In this Life of the Week episode, Professor Michael Scott talks us through the ancient Greek polymath's myriad creations and why his work is still relevant today. He was speaking to Kev Lochin.

Michael, thank you so much for joining me. We're talking about Archimedes today, and I suppose my first question should be, for those who don't know who he is, who is Archimedes? Well, I suspect if people have heard anything to do with Archimedes, they're imagining a naked figure running down the street soaking wet having got out of his bath. That seems to be the image that most people have in their heads of Archimedes. But if before we get to that moment and imagine

kind of slightly slightly unpleasant image probably in some ways. Let's let's dial back and think. Where are we? We're we're in Sicily, in the city of Syracuse. When are we?

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