Abstract
In a very famous passage dealing with the life of Marcellus, Plutrarch says that Archimedes never wrote a text about mechanics and its practical applications (Plutarch, Life of Marcellus, 17): according to Plutarch, in fact, Archimedes would agreed with the classical Plato’s attack against the knowledge originating from technology and the practice of science because of their vague and inaccurate nature. This paper, focusing on the building of the famous ship “Syrakousia” and its description according to the only existing reference in Atheneus of Naucratis (Deipnosophistae, V, 40–44), is an attempt to rethink Archimedes’ position about mechanical knowledge and the cultural relationship between Syracuse and Alexandria.
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Di Pasquale, G. (2010). The “Syrakousia” Ship and the Mechanical Knowledge between Syracuse and Alexandria. In: Paipetis, S., Ceccarelli, M. (eds) The Genius of Archimedes -- 23 Centuries of Influence on Mathematics, Science and Engineering. History of Mechanism and Machine Science, vol 11. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9091-1_20
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9091-1_20
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