Archimedes: the benefits of washing Is this why we remember Archimedes? Well, it’s a start. We may even remember why he was streaking. That’s right; he had just realized how to solve a nasty little problem involving a gold crown belonging to Hiero, tyrant of Syracuse. What was the scientific principle involved? Any object, partly or fully immersed in a fluid must displace some of that fluid. The full statement of Archimedes’ principle is left as an exercise for the reader. Poor Archimedes! He died because he became upset at a rude Roman soldier.

Curiosity killed the cat (and Pliny)
I am amazed at the foolhardiness of Pliny ,the Elder, who just had to go ashore to observe the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D.– you remember; the eruption which destroyed Pompeii. Vulcanologists still take chances and make fatal mistakes. Pliny the Younger has left us a graphic description of the eruption.