SS Archimedes

SS Archimedes was a steamship built in Britain in 1839. She is notable for being the world's first steamship to be driven by a screw propeller.

Archimedes had considerable influence on ship development, encouraging the adoption of screw propulsion by the Royal Navy, in addition to her influence on commercial vessels. She also had a direct influence on the design of another innovative vessel, Isambard Kingdom Brunel's SS Great Britain, then the world's largest ship and the first screw-propelled steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

Background

The principle of moving water with a screw has been known since the invention of the Archimedes' screw, named after Archimedes of Syracuse who lived in the 3rd Century BC. It was not until the 18th century however, and the invention of the steam engine, that a practical means of delivering effective power to a marine screw propulsion system became available, but initial attempts to build such a vessel met with failure.

In 1807, the world's first commercially successful steam-powered vessel, Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat, made its debut. As this vessel was powered by paddlewheels rather than a propeller, the paddlewheel thereby became the de facto early standard for steamship propulsion. Experimentation with screw propulsion continued in some quarters, however, and between 1750 and the 1830s numerous patents for marine propellers were taken out by various inventors, though few of these inventions were pursued to the testing stage, and those that were proved unsatisfactory for one reason or another.

Archimedes

Archimedes of Syracuse (/ˌɑːkɪˈmiːdiːz/;Greek: Ἀρχιμήδης; c. 287 BC – c. 212 BC) was an Ancient 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 anticipated modern calculus and analysis by applying concepts of infinitesimals and the method of exhaustion to derive and rigorously prove a range of geometrical theorems, including the area of a circle, the surface area and volume of a sphere, and the area under a parabola.

Other mathematical achievements include deriving an accurate approximation of pi, defining and investigating the spiral bearing his name, and creating a system using exponentiation for expressing very large numbers. He was also one of the first to apply mathematics to physical phenomena, founding hydrostatics and statics, including an explanation of the principle of the lever. He is credited with designing innovative machines, such as his screw pump, compound pulleys, and defensive war machines to protect his native Syracuse from invasion.

Archimedes (crater)

Archimedes is a large lunar impact crater on the eastern edges of the Mare Imbrium.

Description

The diameter of Archimedes is the largest of any crater on the Mare Imbrium. The rim has a significant outer rampart brightened with ejecta and the upper portion of a terraced inner wall, but lacks the ray system associated with younger craters. A triangular promontory extends 30 kilometers from the southeast of the rim.

The interior of the crater lacks a central peak, and is flooded with lava. It is devoid of significant raised features, although there are a few tiny meteor craters near the rim. Scattered wisps of bright ray material lie across the floor, most likely deposited by the impact that created Autolycus.

Surroundings

To the south of Archimedes extends the Montes Archimedes, a mountainous region. On the southeastern rim is the Palus Putredinis, a lava-flooded plain containing a system of rilles named the Rimae Archimedes, which extends over 150 kilometers. North-northwest of Archimedes stand the Montes Spitzbergen, a string of peaks in the Mare Imbrium. East of Archimedes is the crater Autolycus. Northeast of Archimedes is the prominent crater Aristillus. The lava plain between Archimedes, Aristillus, and Autolycus forms the Sinus Lunicus bay of Mare Imbrium. A wrinkle ridge leads away from Archimedes toward the north-northwest, crossing this mare.

Archimedes (bryozoan)

Archimedes is a genus of Bryozoans belonging to the family Fenestellidae. The first use of the term "Archimedes" in relation to this genus was in 1838.

Etymology

This genus of bryozoans is named Archimedes because of its corkscrew shape, in analogy to the Archimedes' screw, a type of water pump which inspired modern ship propellers. These forms are pretty common as fossils but they have been extinct since the Permian.

Species

Fossil range

These bryozoans lived from the Carboniferous period (Tournaisian age) to the Permian period (Leonard age) (345.3 to 268.0 Ma), when this genus became extinct.

Description

Archimedes is a genus of fenestrate bryozoans with a calcified skeleton of a delicate spiral-shaped mesh that was thickened near the axis into a massive corkscrew-shaped central structure. The most common remains are fragments of the mesh that are detached from the central structure, and these may not be identified other than by association with the "corkscrews", that are fairly common. Specimens in which the mesh remains attached to the central structure are rare. Like other bryozoans, Archimedes forms colonies, and like other fenestrates, the individuals (or zooids) lived on one side of the mesh, and can be recognized for the two rows of equally distanced rimmed pores. Inside the branches, neighbouring individuals were in contact through small canals. Bryozoans are stationary epifaunal suspension feeders.