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[Toady One]

For an intro engineering class we went out to a waste water treatment plant where they used screw pumps to move water about.  Pretty much everything I encounter nowadays reminds me somehow of Dwarf Fortress.

For anybody in the Seattle area, there's one down at the Science Center that has a hand-turner that you mess around with, in that central courtyard with all the water gadgets.

Archimedes would make computer games with really scary siege engines.

[MuonDecay]

I'd be inclined to assume this is how some of the earlier windmill-powered pumps in the Netherlands were designed.

Then again, I could be completely wrong. There are many a way to pump water.

[Fossaman]

This really does call for a giant crane on the walls that can be used to pluck attackers from the ground and hurl them screaming through the air.

You know Archimedes would.

[Kogan Loloklam]

Archimedes? What about Nebuchadnezzar II?

Archimedes cannot be like Toady, because Toady created something new!

[penguinofhonor]

This really does call for a giant crane on the walls that can be used to pluck attackers from the ground and hurl them screaming through the air.

You know Archimedes would.

Archimedes would also create a giant lens to concentrate the rays of the sun at a battlefield and kill people.

[Brendan]

This really does call for a giant crane on the walls that can be used to pluck attackers from the ground and hurl them screaming through the air.

You know Archimedes would.

Archimedes would also create a giant lens to concentrate the rays of the sun at a battlefield and kill people.

Not quite...the lens was more of a mirror and it reflected the rays of the sun onto attacking ships. Archimedes apparently set up lots of them in a semicircle shape on the beaches of Syracuse and they were all reflected onto one part of the ship. And since boats in the classical age were all made of wood, it set them on fire.

I've heard that Mythbusters tested it but I don't remember if it was a myth or not.

[Fossaman]

Mythbusters couldn't get it to work, unfortunately. Some smoke, but no fire.

Anyway, he did the crane thing, too. Plucked enemy sailors off the decks of their ships.

[Dogman]

I've heard that Mythbusters tested it but I don't remember if it was a myth or not.

They did. They used the same materials available in the myths time period (polished brass sheets) and couldn't get the boat to ignite. They even used a super modern version with the help of a University and they still couldn't do it.

Now, Archimedes' Claw, on the other hand, could work.

[Jetman123]

Wars tend to have propaganda as a very large element to them sometimes (all of the time?), so I think that Archimedes Mirror was basically propaganda. Perhaps he tried it and it didn't work, but they kept the idea floating and even put it in books so the Romans would be hesitant to invade by sea, especially given the previously-mentioned Archimedes' Claw.

[Alfador]

Wars tend to have propaganda as a very large element to them sometimes (all of the time?), so I think that Archimedes Mirror was basically propaganda. Perhaps he tried it and it didn't work, but they kept the idea floating and even put it in books so the Romans would be hesitant to invade by sea, especially given the previously-mentioned Archimedes' Claw.

Agreed; people may have even found notes on such a device and assumed it to be real and have been used, while the later page that says "I tried this and it didn't work, back to the drawing board" was lost to the ages.

[winner]

For an intro engineering class we went out to a waste water treatment plant where they used screw pumps to move water about.  Pretty much everything I encounter nowadays reminds me somehow of Dwarf Fortress.

For anybody in the Seattle area, there's one down at the Science Center that has a hand-turner that you mess around with, in that central courtyard with all the water gadgets.

Archimedes would make computer games with really scary siege engines.

I would play with those things every time I went to folklife when I was little.  It is really quite fun.

[J Lensher]

Haste to burst bubble, but there';s never been any historical mention of the Archimedes "Death ray" until 500 years AFTER the battle occured

Still awesome idea, maybe Toady could add something like that into DF?

[Warlord255]

Friend of mine used this technique to make a sand fountain.

[Magua]

Sorry, but the response to the thread title is: Well, duh.

It's not the kind of thing you make up.

Where's the wikipedia article for having levers control things with absolutely no physical connection between them at all?

[I3erent]

When you consider that:

A. Before Archimedes' screw there was virtually no way of moving water uphill
B. While more efficient designs exist, it is incredibly easy to make and can be done using nothing more than wood (Just like in DF!)

It is indeed an awesome way to transport water.

well i brought this to the attention of everyone awhile back in a previous futuree of the fortress before screw pumps were implemented.

http://sentinelkennels.com/Research_Article_V41.html