Taming of the Screw (or how we found hydrostatics)

The life of a theorist is tough. You work hard, laboring through formulas, sometimes reaching dead-ends or sketchy proofs. Most people have no interest in your equations or what they mean, except for other thinkers. It’s been the same throughout history, all the way back to Archimedes.

Archimedes Thoughtful by Fetti (1620)

Just as today, solving theoretical problems in the second century BC really didn’t earn one much of a living. Therefore you took up other lines of work in order to eat. When not buried in some calculation, Archimedes dabbled in mechanisms that were usually military-related –– where the money was –– which meant they were probably intended for his patron, King Hieron of Syracuse, Sicily.  

Indeed, Archimedes was a highly sought after brand in the area of military innovation –– and it would ultimately lead to his death during the Second Punic War* in 212 BC. But there is more on that later.

We sometimes think of the ancient people as static –– that it was only the conquering armies or explorers that travelled. Citizens did a lot of travelling and Archimedes was no different. Egypt was just days away by boat, and as a young man he is known to have spent time in the city of Alexandria with other great thinkers of his period. No one knows for sure but that’s where it is said that Archimedes either invented the water screw or came across it, in the latter instance that it wasn’t an original development.

Different descriptions of the screw lightly dot history dating back to Babylon, making it an unknown who first came up with it. It may well have been Archimedes. But an original idea isn’t always as important as knowing what to do with it –– how to market it. And Archimedes just rolled the screw right into his brand.

Imagine Archimedes taking a rare break from his calculations to converse with an old crony over cups of wine and cheese on a sunny Sicilian day. His friend asks what’s up and Archimedes sips his wine in preparation for a lengthy reply, in which comes the essence of a new product strategy.

Think about how he might explain the concept that the screw helps move water from a low position to a higher one. In practice it can be used for several applications, including pumping bilge from ships, draining water from mines, or irrigating crops. It even moves grains up to drying to lofts.

A natural question likely put to Archimedes was how he’d profit from the screw. Clearly the screw was unique and that one might consider it a product category by itself.

For ships, new or old, it is easily employed. Adding to the pitch on benefits are that the screw needs only a simple refit to any boat and only one or two men easily operate it. Thus bilge is quickly reduced compared to repeatedly filling buckets and emptying them overboard. The take away is it makes a faster, better process, and allows crewmen to return to more profitable work sooner.

Positioning the screw is as simple as identifying it as an efficiency tool –– a time saver that also reduces manpower waste. One or two men now do the job of a bucket brigade, making the screw a practical innovation that solves a problem and improves safety.

For farmers or landowners, the screw reduces dependence on the gods for the blessings of rain. Workers can raise water from nearby creeks, rivers or lakes into a network of irrigation ditches to keep crops hydrated.

Likely there would be few, if any real obstacles to success. 

Overall, the screw would add to the idea of Archimedes innovations. Reinforcing his brand position as an innovator/inventor. As a matter fact it would ultimately become known as the “Archimedes Screw.”

Pricing for ancient innovations is not in the books, but it is probably safe to say the contraption, unique and with such obvious benefits, might demand a premium. But it shouldn't be too high a premium as to overrule the need, especially where farmers or landowners are concerned. 

Obviously Archimedes would have to pick a market for his initial introduction, and the most ready was certainly shipping. That market makes distribution readily available from Sicily, and especially in Syracuse. Adding to the possibilities are military contracts because of the Punic War. With the Romans to the north in Messina, and the Carthaginians to the west in Himera, contract negotiations should be quick and simple. One side will want to equalize benefits of the other.

And, too, King Hieron will want first rights for his ships. What’s more, the success of those installations will spread to every port and to every ship owner from Corsica to Carthage to Athens.

That leads us to production. A new product is worthless if you can’t produce it. So at some point there would have been a manufacturing discussion. Essentially, however, your great thinkers got paid for being idea men rather production managers. More likely is that once the design was proven out with a prototype, the patron took over and produced the screw. Still, somebody had to arrange for the wood, a carpenter or artisan to carve and create the screw, perhaps even a blacksmith to clad the screw blades in copper. 

Obviously there were no Gantt charts Archimedes used to schedule this project. Again, once he pitched the idea to King Hieron, another grant of funds to continue research was likely given, and on Archimedes went about his calculations or seeking the next big idea for the king’s navy or army. Perhaps a "laser..."

Side Bar: The Punic Wars and How Archimedes Died

*The Second Punic War, between Rome and Carthage, lasted about 16 years. As with the first, there was fighting over control of the island of Sicily, on which Rome, Carthage, and even Greece had colonies. Archimedes resided in Syracuse and history records his death as during the Siege of Syracuse.

Roman forces under General Marcus Claudius Marcellus captured the city of Syracuse after the two-year-long siege.  The popular account given by Plutarch states that an order was given Archimedes not be harmed because he was a valuable “asset.” It goes on to say that Archimedes was so preoccupied with a mathematical diagram, that when a Roman soldier commanded him to come and meet General Marcellus, Archimedes declined. He said he had to finish working on the problem. Enraged by this, the soldier killed Archimedes.