Archimedes' screw Archimedes' screw An Archimedes' screw, also known by the name the Archimedean screw or screw pump, is a machine used for transferring water from a low-lying body of water into irrigation ditches. Water is pumped by turning a screw-shaped surface inside a pipe. The screw pump is commonly attributed to Archimedes, on the occasion of his visit to Egypt. This tradition may reflect only that the apparatus was unknown to the Greeks before Hellenistic times and was introduced in Archimedes's lifetime by unknown engineers. Depictions of Greek and Roman water screws show them being powered by a human treading on
Archimedes of the theorem." d. "It was usual to smear the seams or even the whole hull with pitch or with pitch and wax". In Νεκρικοὶ Διάλογοι ("Dialogues of the Dead"), Lucian refers to coating the seams of a skiff with wax, a reference to pitch (tar) or wax. Archimedes Archimedes of Syracuse (; ; ) was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientists in classical antiquity. Generally considered the greatest mathematician of antiquity and one of the greatest of all time, Archimedes