Archimedes of Syracuse spent his life looking out at the sea,
With a twig in his hand he drew shapes in the sand, solving puzzles with geometry,
Now the king had a crown and suspected that it had less gold than he was told there would be,
He needed a way to determine its volume to calculate its density,
When Archimedes had a bath he discovered the answer was found easily,
For the volume displaced was the same that had raised and the goldsmith was hung from a tree.
Where would we be without Archimedes, antiquity's brainiest dude,
The modern world without his inventions would be Archimedean screwed.
Well the King was concerned about the romans invading and needed to keep them at bay,
So Archimedes designed him a ship shaking claw, the catapult and even a death ray.
By getting the soldiers to polish their shields and stand in parabolic array,
And focus the light of the sun and that technology's still useful for renewable energy.
Where would we be without Archimedes, antiquity's brainiest dude,
Without his ways of focussing rays we'd be Archimedean screwed.
Mathematics was always his passion, he came close to a figure for pi,
He puzzled for years over spirals and spheres, but its circles for which he'd eventually die.
Where would we be without Archimedes, antiquity's brainiest dude,
As Romans invaded, he kept contemplating, and when asked to stop simply refused,
The roman saw his quiet defiance as being incredibly rude,
He was run through and so never knew if his circles could ever be proved.
Where would we be without Archimedes, antiquity's brainiest dude,
Where would we be without the double pulley, and the bilge pump made out of a screw,
Where would we be without Archimedes, antiquity's brainiest dude,
His violent streak was cheered by the Greeks, but the roman fleet frequently booed.
Where would we be without Archimedes, antiquity's brainiest dude,
The man who bathed and shouted Eureka and ran through the streets in the nude.
Where would we be without Archimedes, antiquity's brainiest dude,
The modern world without his inventions would Archimedean screwed.
credits
from Science Songs 2,
released August 21, 2012
Produced by Jay Enticknap
