Frazz by Jef Mallett for April 11, 2024

Did Archimedes take off his toga?

Nudity was not a big deal in Ancient Peloponnesia. They wrestled nude covered in olive oil. The story must have been made up by prudes for shock value like Lady Godiva’s ride.

Yay for Dr. Spaetzle

Archimedes was in the tub, so he has an excuse.

He yelled “Eureka!” and someone yelled back, “You don’t smell so great yourself!”

No yelling? This means YOU, Teachers!!

Sounds like something Wallace would do.

why do I feel so displaced?

I’m not clear on the size of his bathtub or the number of his co-bathers. I was taught (soon after it happened) that the “discovery” that getting IN actually displaced the same amount of water going elsewhere. He wouldn’t have noticed the level rise in a public bath; but he saw that as a way to measure the volume of an oddly shaped object.

The back story was to determine the density of the King’s crown (pure gold or an alloy?) It’s weight was easy; but geometry was no help in determining its volume.

All that other stuff came later.

Does he thing he scored a soccer, uh, sorry, football goal?

Decorum, Caulfield, decorum. Also there is a dress code.

He should be allowed to express his elation.

“‘Eureka’ is Greek for ‘This bath is too hot.’” — The Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker)

What Archimedes discovered was the gravimetric buoyancy technique. By measuring the mass of the kings gold crown suspended in water and comparing that to the mass of a sample of pure gold equal to the dry mass of the crown suspended in water, Archimedes could determine if the crown was less dense than pure gold and hence adulterated with a lighter metal.