Sennacherib, Archimedes, and the Water Screw The Context of Invention in the Ancient World S T E P H A N I E D A L L E Y a n d J O H N P E T E R O L E S O N
T E C H N O L O G Y A N D C U L T U R E 1 This article will present the cases for and against Archimedes as the original inventor of the most striking and famous device attributed to him, the water screw. It takes the form of a case study that focuses as much on the context and motives for the invention as on the possible inventor himself. In brief, an Archimedean water screw consists of a cylinder containing several continuous helical walls that, when the entire cylinder is rotated on its longitudinal axis, scoop up water at the open lower end and dump it out the upper end. Both...
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