All language subtitles for Ancient.Impossible.S01E05.Ancient.Einsteins.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-playWEB_track4_[eng]

NARRATOR: Is it possible the
ancient world had geniuses

greater than ours today?

RICHARD WINDLEY: The greatest
scientific discoveries involve

huge leaps of
imagination, but you

have to leap from somewhere.

NARRATOR: Who were
these ancient geniuses,

and what did they create?

This thing can make
water travel uphill.

NARRATOR: Were there really
minds so great that they were

a match for Albert Einstein?

Monuments more
colossal than our own.

Ancient super-weapons
as mighty as today's.

Technology so precise
it defies reinvention.

The ancient world
was not primitive.

Their marvels are so advanced,
we still use them now.

Travel to a world closer than
we imagine-- an ancient age

where nothing was impossible.

Many consider Albert
Einstein to be the greatest

mind of all time.

His discovery of the energy
contained in the atom

led to the nuclear age.

His theories still resonate
throughout modern science

and have influenced devices
that are essential parts

of our everyday lives, including
televisions, digital cameras,

and GPS.

But could thinkers
over 2,000 years ago

have had equally
revolutionary ideas?

Is it possible that
our modern world

was created by ancient minds?

It was Isaac Newton, one
of the greatest scientists

of all time, who famously
said that if he'd seen further

than others, it was
because he was standing

on the shoulders of giants.

But it was the ancient Greeks
who were the real giants.

The ancient Einsteins
and what they achieved

was truly staggering.

NARRATOR: Our search for
these ancient Einsteins

begins at the greatest seat
of knowledge and learning

in the ancient world--

the Library of
Alexandria in Egypt.

It was here where the most
amazing minds of the time

came to think, to
imagine, to invent.

And it was here,
2,300 years ago,

where our first ancient
genius came to work and study.

His name was Ctesibius,
an ingenious inventor

who discovered something
that is an integral part

of our modern world,
the power of air.

Today, we use compressed
air for all kinds of things.

We take it for granted.

When you fill your tires,
you're using compressed air.

These modern racing
cars depend on it,

but have you ever thought,
who came up with this idea?

Thank Ctesibius.

These cars go over
200 miles per hour,

but they're not the fastest
machines in the workshop--

far from it.

The turning speed is
between 10,000 and 15,000 RPM,

so it's a seriously
powerful [inaudible]

[music playing]

NARRATOR: And this power all
comes from compressed air.

There's nothing more effective.

KARL UDE-MARTINEZ: To watch
a pit crew work as they do,

changing the tires as quickly as
possible using this technology,

is one of the most
incredible sights.

It's amazing to think that
the technology in this

was being used over
2,000 years ago.

NARRATOR: And it was Ctesibius
who came up with the idea

in ancient Alexandria.

He discovered that air
had mass and pressure.

This was a giant
scientific leap,

much like Einstein's incredible
insights into space and time.

But how did this
little-known ancient genius

make this breakthrough?

It all started in a barber shop.

MICHAEL SCOTT: Ctesibius grew
up as the son of a barber,

working in a barber shop.

And one of the things he seems
to have invented early on

is a mirror that could be
raised up and down to help

with the job of shaving people.

And that invention led him on
to discover something else--

that when the mirror on
its lead counterweight

moved up and down,
there was this noise,

the noise of air as it escaped
and rushed back into the casing

around the lead weight.

And that led
Ctesibius to realize

that air was a substance.

Air was a thing that
could be compressed

and which would expand.

NARRATOR: Ctesibius was quick
to realize that compressed air

could be used as
a source of power,

and that it could power water.

It wasn't long before
he came up with this--

the water pump.

It was so ahead of its time.

It was a truly
remarkable invention.

Today, we'd basically
call this a two-cylinder

reciprocating force pump.

To explain it, I'll
probably turn it around,

and we can actually
see the mechanism.

As the piston comes up,
the suction draws in water

through this bottom flap valve.

Then on the downstroke,
the force of the pressure

closes the bottom flap valve
so the only place for the water

to go is through this orifice
here and into the receiving

chamber through another valve.

NARRATOR: The other piston is
doing exactly the opposite.

As the one on the left is
filling, the one on the right

is pushing the water out.

And with constant pumping,
a continual flow of water

is forced from the
receiving chamber

up through a nozzle at the top.

Incredibly, Ctesibius's water
pump was the world's first fire

engine.

In Alexandria, it was
rushed out in emergencies

all over the city.

RICHARD WINDLEY: It
seems very effective.

I think it would be
useful in a fire.

It would certainly enable a jet
of water to get where people

couldn't.

NARRATOR: In the ancient
world, a directed jet

of water like this was
something new and amazing.

But after the Romans, the
firefighting water pump

disappeared.

The idea was lost.

And it's not until the 15th
century that it's reinvented.

It's amazing to think the fire
engine was invented over 2,000

years ago.

And thanks to
Ctesibius, today we

still fight fires
in the same way.

But for Ctesibius, this
was just the beginning.

Like all geniuses, his
thinking knew no limits.

MICHAEL SCOTT: Well,
Ctesibius was one of the paid

intellectuals in
Alexandria, and he

was part of a select group
that were really pushing

the boundaries in all sorts of
areas-- in astronomy, in maths,

in geography, in history.

And they were all being
paid by Ptolemy II, who

was keen to have his
own reputation imbued

with the amazing-ness of
these people's discoveries.

NARRATOR: Ctesibius
began to wonder.

He had learned how to
manipulate air pressure.

Now could he do the
same with water?

2,000 years before Einstein's
own investigations,

he decided to try to crack
one of the most difficult

questions.

What's the time?

This was going to be Ctesibius's
greatest achievement.

His goal was to invent, for
the first time, something that

would accurately tell the time.

NARRATOR: Sundials
were useless at night,

or when it was cloudy.

And for the Greeks, it was
most important to measure time

inside, especially
in the law courts.

Justice depended on giving
lawyers equal amounts of time.

We know from,
say, ancient Athens

in the 5th and 4th century, BC.

In the law courts, they'd
had a kind of a water clock.

Now this was a very simple
invention where you had

a bucket full of water
with a hole in the bottom,

and the water went out to a
bucket that was lower down.

When the bucket was
empty, the lawyer's time

was said to be up.

NARRATOR: But there
was a problem.

As the height of
the water changed,

it didn't run out
at a steady rate.

Ctesibius came up with
a brilliant answer,

and he changed the history
of timekeeping forever.

He took clocks from a
couple of buckets to this.

Something intricate, remarkable,
and completely groundbreaking--

the first ever accurate
and fully automatic clock.

Now what Ctesibius did
is particularly cunning.

He makes sure that the height
of water in this chamber

never changes.

NARRATOR: Ctesibius did this
by continually feeding water

to the top and attaching
an overflow pipe.

The water then flowed into
a second chamber, which

would rise at a steady
and precise rate,

allowing time to be
measured accurately.

This was genius, but
Ctesibius still wasn't happy.

The second chamber had
to be emptied when full,

and he wanted a clock
that would run and run.

Surely, this was impossible.

What he did was, he fitted
a siphon to the system,

and this may well be the
first time a siphon was ever

fitted to a machine.

NARRATOR: With a siphon, the
clock emptied and reset itself

automatically.

This was revolutionary.

The world had never seen a
machine like this before.

But there was still
one remaining problem.

The Greeks divided the
daylight hours into 12,

so their hours were shorter
in winter than in summer.

Even our modern clocks
would struggle with that.

Using a water wheel
and a series of cogs,

a cylinder turned a
tiny amount every day,

the hour lines becoming nearer
or farther apart depending

on the time of the year.

The precision involved
is simply astonishing.

MARTY JOPSON: So overall,
Ctesibius's water clock

ran 24 hours a day, seven
days a week, 365 days a year.

And for over 2,000 years, this
was the most accurate clock

in the world.

NARRATOR: So all modern
clocks, even London's Big Ben,

can trace their origins back
to this incredible machine.

Now imagine what Ctesibius might
have invented if he had been

alive in modern times
with all the resources

that are available today.

Would he have been a match
for Albert Einstein himself?

Ctesibius built the
first accurate clock.

He built the first fire engine.

And of course, he
discovered pneumatics.

That's why, for me, he
is an ancient Einstein.

[music playing]

[music playing]

The ancient world had
its colossal thinkers,

but could they have had minds
to match Albert Einstein?

We are on a journey to find out.

Over 2,000 years ago,
Ctesibius mastered the power

of air and water, and invented
the first accurate clock.

And now we are about to
meet another brilliant mind.

Many consider this man to
be the father of robotics.

His name was Philon
of Byzantium.

He was also known as
Philo or Philo Mechanicus

because when it
came to mechanics,

he was thousands of
years ahead of the game.

RICHARD WINDLEY:
Philon of Byzantium

was one of the most mysterious
characters of antiquity.

We know very little about
him, but what we do know

is that he was responsible for
some of the most impossible

inventions of his day.

NARRATOR: We also know
that Philon was drawn

to the library at Alexandria
around the same time

as Ctesibius.

And it's here where he wrote
his masterpiece, "A Compendium

Of Mechanics."

Most of this work
has been lost, but we

know that Philon's brilliance
in math and mechanics

led him to invent some of the
most lethal weapons of the day,

like this repeating crossbow,
an ancient machine gun.

He also worked out how
to project huge missiles

from a catapult. But Philon
is most famous for being

the inspiration for this.

Talking to me?

I'm the only one here.

NARRATOR: Machines like
this can trace their origins

all the way back to Philon.

Meet Philon's maid, an automaton
that could pour a goblet

of wine and mix it with water.

Is this the world's first robot?

The invention that really
makes me think of Philo

as a hero of ancient engineering
is his wine-pouring maid.

Now this was a device
shaped like a woman

with an outstretched hand
and holding a jug of wine.

Someone would come up
and place their empty cup

in the outstretched hand, and
under the force of gravity,

the hand would descend.

And through a series
of very clever valves,

the air pressure
inside of the device

would change, allowing
wine and water

to be poured into the glass.

NARRATOR: The serving maid was
built to astonish and amaze.

And at a dinner party
in ancient Greece,

this was just what
a rich host wanted.

It was a party
piece like no other.

It had human characteristics
and performed human tasks.

Guests to this dinner
party had witnessed

history in the making.

They'd been given wine by
the world's first robot.

And 2,000 years after Philon
created the serving maid

for some wealthy client, we have
brought the robot back to life.

RICHARD WINDLEY: I'm going to
place the chalice in the hand,

and we'll see if it works.

NARRATOR: If it
does work, first,

we'll get a precise
measure of wine followed

by a precise measure of water.

Oh, there we go.

That's the start of it.

The wine stopped, and
now there's the water.

There we go.

And it's stopped.

The cup would have then
been taken out and handed

to an astonished
and mystified guest.

NARRATOR: The wine is
released into the goblet

by the movement of the arm.

And then, when the goblet
reaches an exact weight,

the wine valve closes
and the water valve

opens, diluting the wine, just
how the ancient Greeks liked

it.

This was all incredibly
sophisticated.

It seems likely that Philon
learned from Ctesibius

about hydraulics
and compressed air.

Then he took this engineering
to amazing levels.

The idea that a
piece of engineering

of this sophistication
could actually

have been produced such a
long time ago is stunning.

It's almost impossible
for us to believe.

NARRATOR: But there's more
to Philon than robotics.

He also invented
incredible devices that

could astonish an audience.

The impact of one of
them has resonated

through the centuries.

One of the inventions that
I find most remarkable is

Philo's invention of
the eight-sided ink pot.

And in each of these
faces was drilled a hole.

Now you could take your quill
and dip it into the top face

and get some ink out, but the
remarkable thing about Philo's

eight-sided inkwell was
that you could rotate it

around 360 degrees
in any direction,

and no ink would spill out.

NARRATOR: This had
never been seen before.

The magic lay in
hidden suspended rings

with gravity holding the
ink bowl level at all times.

Whoever owned this device
would have had their guests

dumbfounded.

And over 2,000 years
later, this invention

is in use in the skies
all over the world.

It's the basis of an airplane's
gyroscope, which shows a level

horizon to the pilot.

At night or in poor
visibility, it's

the most important
instrument in the cockpit.

All I can see is clouds.

My reference point's gone.

I'm flying blind.

Without this use
of the gyroscopes,

we wouldn't be able to see
how far we're pitching up

and how far we're turning.

We'd get completely
disorientated.

We could either
flip it or stall it.

Philon's mind was so
ahead of his time.

There just wasn't the
technology really to utilize it.

NARRATOR: In fact,
the technology

involved in Philon's
ink pot was used

in putting a man on the moon.

[music playing]

One of the frustrating
things about studying Philo

is that so much of what
he wrote has been lost.

We know the eight chapters in
his "Compendium of Mechanics"--

this ancient textbook
of engineering.

We know that only three survive.

It's this missing bit-- it's
these extra five chapters

that we don't know
about together

with what we know
probably makes him

one of the great ancient
engineers and a hero of mine.

NARRATOR: We can
only imagine what

genius inventions of Philon
have been lost to history.

What other mental
leaps might he have

made that could have driven
technology to new levels?

There are many great minds
that we have to thank

for our modern technology--

Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Thomas
Edison, and the man many

consider to be the greatest
of them all, Albert Einstein.

Now we are on a quest to
find the ancient Einsteins,

and this journey takes us
straight to the amazing Library

of Alexandria in Egypt.

DARIUS ARYA: It wasn't
just a library with books.

It was a center of
innovation and technology.

It was the Silicon Valley
of the ancient world.

NARRATOR: The ancient Greeks
weren't so constrained

by religion, so
philosophers and inventors

were free to think about
how the world works.

And it's because of this that
what we now call "science"

was born.

So they weren't
just inventing things.

They were inventing the actual
processes of science itself.

NARRATOR: After Ctesibius and
Philon in the 1st century, AD,

another ancient genius
worked at the library.

He was a native of Alexandria,
and he taught math, mechanics,

pneumatics, and physics.

His name was Heron.

Could he be an ancient Einstein?

Heron certainly had
a scientific mind.

He was a man of reason.

This is what the
Greeks are famous for.

But they did have religion,
and in fact, Heron

wasn't averse to making
a tidy profit out of it.

Ancient Alexandria
had hundreds of temples,

and they each competed
with each other.

They wanted to get people
in and take their money.

So how do you separate
yourself from the crowd?

The priests always knew that
they could rely on Heron

to come up with
an ingenious idea.

He was the one who could
think outside the box.

NARRATOR: Building on
the work of Ctesibius

and especially
Philon, Heron invented

incredible, mechanized models
that were at the cutting

edge of technology.

Priests would demonstrate
them in the temples

to show their godly powers.

An archer magically
shooting his arrow

at a hissing dragon,
a brass horse that

appeared to drink water, dancers
revolving around a fire--

these were sure signs that
the gods were present.

RICHARD WINDLEY: So
Heron was very much

like a modern-day stage
magician in Las Vegas,

achieving what was
seemingly impossible.

NARRATOR: Many inventions seem
extraordinary at the time--

television, the
electric light bulb.

Can you imagine in
the 20th century

coming across automatic
doors for the first time?

They were magic.

Now, imagine coming across
them 2,000 years ago--

surely impossible.

But Heron did the impossible.

Incredibly, he invented
automatic doors

over 2,000 years ago.

This was one of the most
remarkable pieces of technology

of ancient times.

Amazingly, the world's
first automatic doors

were on an ancient Greek
temple, and they appeared

to be opened by the gods.

DARIUS ARYA: I'm at the
temple of Serapis in Ephesus,

and this is a massive
doorway to this temple.

Now with a doorway also
come massive doors.

You can see one of the sockets,
how it swings open right here.

Now Heron took such
a setting like this

and did something incredible.

NARRATOR: Heron realized that
if you heat air, it expands.

This is a huge development
to Ctesibius's discovery

that air was a substance.

And expanding hot air could
be used to push water,

just like the compressed
air of the water pump.

And it's this that
lies behind the magic

of the automatic temple doors.

Heron's automatic doors are
a work of absolute genius.

The priest lit a fire.

Now the worshippers
couldn't see,

but that fire started
to heat a tank of water.

The water would boil, create
steam, which would push through

into a second tank, which would
force water through a pipe

into a bucket.

The bucket was attached by a
series of ropes and pulleys

to the door.

So as the bucket filled and
fell, the doors would open.

The worshippers would
be absolutely amazed.

They think that
the gods themselves

have opened the temple doors.

They flood in awe-inspired.

DARIUS ARYA: The gods
have given a sign.

This is a moment of epiphany.

This is a religious experience.

It's so incredible,
and you can't quite

figure out how it happens.

It must be the gods
that are responding.

It's that kind of innovation
that Heron is famous for.

He makes the automatic
door 2,000 years ago.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: Today, we take
automatic doors for granted,

along with lots of other
so-called modern inventions.

But Heron didn't stop there.

Just like Ctesibius
and Philon, he

was always looking to
push technology forward.

His mastery of weights,
pulleys, and the flow of water

led to his next invention,
which was so ahead of its time

it wasn't until the 20th century
that it became commonplace--

a coin-operated machine.

Incredibly, even back
then, you could take a coin,

place it into a machine, and
this machine would dispense

you a cup of holy water.

It's a precursor to
the vending machine.

You basically come up to
this machine, put in a coin,

and it releases the holy water.

After the coin drops through,
the water closes a valve,

and the water stops.

So you've got everybody happy.

You've got the
temple-goers getting

the water and the temple
getting the money.

It's that kind of
complex solution

to a complicated situation that
shows that Heron is a genius

and basically inventing
the vending machine 2,000

years ago.

NARRATOR: It's amazing
to think that there

were coin-operated vending
machines in ancient Alexandria.

The discoveries
of Albert Einstein

are amazing and
awe-inspiring, but could there

have been ancient Einsteins?

Astonishingly, the technology
of the ancient world

is just as incredible.

And just like today, some of
the most advanced technology

was used to entertain.

The Greek inventor, Heron of
Alexandria, was a showman.

If he could amaze an audience
with a spectacular display,

then there was money to be made.

In modern times, it's
movies that have given us

drama and spectacle.

But the great directors
of the 20th century

owe their craft to Heron.

Heron was just as much
the inventor, the showman,

the creator of magic.

And it could have
been at this theater

in Alexandria, where Heron
put on a show like no other.

DARIUS ARYA: Heron of Alexandria
is quite the innovator,

but he also has a flair
for spectacle, putting

on a good show.

NARRATOR: Heron created an
automated theater, the first

in history.

Once running, it didn't
need anyone to touch it.

It's believed that the
show ran for 20 minutes.

It was new.

It was incredible, and it
left its audience dumbfounded.

Basically, he has a
bunch of figures that have

pre-programmed moves.

How does he do this?

With ropes and coils,
everything's spun and wound up

and ready to go.

When he sets off a button,
off goes the entire spectacle.

Off goes the entire play.

You've never seen
anything like it.

You can't figure
out how it was done.

This is the innovation.

This is the spectacle
of Heron the innovator.

NARRATOR: The word "cinema"
comes from the Greek

for "movement," so
Heron's theater was truly

a cinematic marvel.

But there was more to
Heron than the showman.

He was fascinated by
technology for its own sake.

His most incredible discovery
wasn't used in the theater.

In fact, it wasn't put
to use in any way at all.

But today, it powers these
launching mechanisms.

RICHARD WINDLEY: We may
attribute the invention

of steam power to the Industrial
Revolution a couple hundred

years ago.

But like many modern
inventions, it's

really more of a rediscovery.

NARRATOR: This intriguing copper
ball is known as an aelopile.

It may not look
like much, but it

could spin at an incredible
1,500 reps per minute.

This was the world's
first steam engine.

Before me is Heron of
Alexandria's ball of wind,

what many consider to
be the first true steam

engine predating the Industrial
Revolution by 1,800, 1,900

years.

NARRATOR: The cauldron is
airtight and filled with water.

A fire underneath heats
the water, creating steam.

The steam has nowhere to
go but up into the ball

and out through the
two opposing nozzles.

Then, the power of the
jets of steam gets to work,

forcing the ball to
spin on its axis.

So now, the flame is
heating the cauldron

and the water trapped inside.

Once it's hot enough,
we'll then have steam.

We'll start to see those gases
come out of these nozzles

right here.

And then once that pressure
builds up high enough,

we should then have rotation.

The fact that Heron
was able to get this

to work 2,000 years ago makes me
compare him to Albert Einstein.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: Imagine if
this technology had

been put to use by the Greeks.

History would not
have been the same.

In fact, imagine where
we might be today

if we'd had an Industrial
Revolution 2,000 years ago.

Automatic doors, the
first steam engine--

working within the
limits of his day,

Heron must have had
an amazing mind.

Heron of Alexandria didn't
have the tools or the knowledge

of modern engineers, but his
inventions were incredible.

His machines were the
wonder of Alexandria.

Like any genius, Heron
was way ahead of his time.

But just imagine what
he could have achieved

in our world of high-powered
computers and nuclear energy.

We are on a search
for the greatest

minds of the ancient world.

Were their minds as brilliant
as Albert Einstein's

2,000 years ago?

So far, we've met
three towering figures.

But there's still one more
who looms above them all--

Archimedes.

Could he be the greatest
mind in history?

Archimedes has
always fascinated me.

I think that genius is
a very overused word,

but there is absolutely no doubt
that Archimedes was a living,

breathing genius.

RICHARD WINDLEY: Archimedes
is still thought of today

as one of the greatest
inventors of all time.

And this is even
more impressive when

we consider that he was
the very earliest of all

our ancient Einsteins.

NARRATOR: Archimedes was born
in Syracuse on the island

of Sicily in 287 BC.

Has any greater man
been born since?

So much of modern
science begins with him.

The greatest
scientific discoveries,

like Einstein's
theory of relativity,

involve huge leaps
of imagination.

But you have to
leap from somewhere.

Archimedes set the mark.

Archimedes laid the foundations.

Archimedes was not
just a mere genius.

He was the greatest mind
in the ancient world.

NARRATOR: So what did Archimedes
do that was so special?

Like Leonardo da Vinci, he
had an incredible imagination.

He dreamt up terrifying weapons
like the death ray, which

used the power of
the sun; a candidate

that used the power of
steam; immense catapults

to attack enemy ships; and a
giant claw that would pull them

from the sea.

But his greatest
legacy is giving us

inventions that are
not only still in use,

but help run our modern world.

So much of our everyday,
modern technology

can be traced back
to Archimedes.

Take the screw, for example.

It looks so simple, but
it was revolutionary.

There had never been
anything like it.

And this model shows how
the Archimedes' screw could

do something miraculous.

This thing can make
water travel uphill.

NARRATOR: The world had never
seen anything like this before.

It seemed to go against
all the laws of nature.

The genius was in
its simplicity.

You turn the handle.

Because you're churning the
water down at the bottom,

it really is just simply winding
the water up the mechanism.

It's a very simple device, but
it's a really beautiful one.

NARRATOR: The Archimedes'
screw was a revelation.

It meant bilge water could
be pumped from ships,

enabling them to travel farther.

It meant fields could be
irrigated like never before.

This was ancient
technology at its best.

And the incredible thing
is that this exact mechanism

is still being used today.

NARRATOR: Windsor Castle, one
of the official residences

of the queen of England.

What does a place like this
got to do with Archimedes?

Most of the electricity
for the castle

comes from a surprising source.

Less than a mile away
is the River Thames,

and here in the 21st century
are Archimedes screws in action.

They are just like the screws
used by the ancient Greeks,

but with a twist.

DAVID DECHAMBEAU:
The Archimedes' screw

that we're using today is
virtually the same as it's

always been for 2,000 years,
but just a little bit different.

Rather than using them to
pump water up out of a river

and to a field, we now turn
them in the opposite direction,

allow the power of the water
turn a gearbox and a generator.

So now instead of pumping
water, these screws

are using the power of the
water to actually generate

electricity.

[music playing]

BETTANY HUGHES: So
every time the queen

switches on a light switch or
snuggles up next to a radiator

or even turns on the telly,
she is benefiting from one

of Archimedes' inventions.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: Archimedes was
known as the great geometer,

the master, and the wise one.

But was he as
brilliant as Einstein?

Our journey into
the ancient world

has led us to some
staggering intellects,

astonishing inventors, and
eventually, to the greatest

of them all, Archimedes.

The Archimedes' screw is
his most famous invention,

but there was no
end to his genius.

If anyone in history is a
match for Albert Einstein,

then surely it
would be Archimedes.

BETTANY HUGHES: Archimedes
was a brilliant inventor

and a mathematician.

He says to the people
around him, don't just

live in the lap of the gods.

Don't be dominated
by Mother Nature.

You, as a man, can take
control of your own destiny.

NARRATOR: And in discovering
fundamental laws of nature,

Archimedes led the way, and in
doing so, changed the world.

BETTANY HUGHES: He
didn't just invent

things that changed his world.

They're things that have
changed our world, too.

NARRATOR: Archimedes
lived for invention.

According to legend,
nothing could

get between him and his work,
and sometimes he would even

forget to eat.

Ideas would come to
him at any moment,

and he would scribble them
on any available surface.

Famously, he was in the bath
when he discovered the laws

of buoyancy, leading him to
run naked through the streets,

shouting, "eureka!"

Perhaps he was the world's
first mad scientist.

He certainly had
a brilliant mind.

It's because of his
huge advances in math

that the Greeks
went on to become

such incredible inventors.

His own inventions can
seem simple to us today,

but that's because
they've become so much

a part of our world we
often take them for granted.

And one, just as
important as the screw,

we've come to depend on.

In a stroke of
genius, Archimedes

invented the pulley system.

Before Archimedes,
lifting heavy weights

depended on muscle power alone.

That was a big problem
in the ancient world.

To lift a ton would take 40 men.

How could one man
do the job of 40?

Surely, it was impossible.

But not for Archimedes.

[music playing]

Now in every
workshop or factory,

the legacy of Archimedes'
discovery is all around.

Galileo, another brilliant
mathematician and engineer,

called Archimedes "superhuman."

But thanks to Archimedes,
any man can be a superman.

Any man can
single-handedly lift a car.

And here in Hereford,
England, we're

going to put that to the test.

Archimedes-- he got it.

He realized there was a problem.

So he came up with a very
simple, but very clever,

system of the block and tackle.

NARRATOR: Archimedes worked
out that using a pulley

made it considerably easier
to lift a heavy weight.

And using two joined together
made it twice as easy.

When I pull down
here, how easy is that?

Because this weight is now
divided between a number

of different lines.

And, all right, I have
to pull quite a long way

to take it off the ground,
but this is the principle

of a block and tackle--

lifting heavy
weights very easily.

This is what I'm going to
be using to lift the car.

NARRATOR: The more
pulleys are combined

and the longer the
total length of rope,

the more weight can
be lifted by one man.

There's a story that
goes, to prove this,

he single-handedly pulled
a ship up onto the beach.

I believe it.

He could do it.

NARRATOR: A similar principle
lies behind the lever.

The longer the lever,
the less force is needed.

In fact, Archimedes said that
with a lever long enough,

one man could lift the
weight of the Earth.

We can't put that
theory to the test,

but we can see what's
possible for one man

to achieve with
just a few pulleys.

Whoa, whoa.

You promised me a small car.

All right.

Gloves.

[grunting]

It's moving, but it's
not leaving the ground.

All right.

Archimedes said, heavy
weights, more pulleys.

I've got some more pulleys.

Here we go.

I've got my pulley set here,
which is another 4 to 1,

which means instead of 400
pounds, if I pull on this,

100 pounds should
go up in the air.

Archimedes would be proud of me.

Here we go.

[music playing]

It may have been more than
2,000 years ago that Archimedes

had his flash of genius.

The technology still works.

That car weighs more than
a ton, and it's in the air.

One man.

Well done, Archimedes.

NARRATOR: "Eureka"
means "I have found it."

And it could be argued
that Archimedes found out

more than anyone
else before or since.

And we can only guess at
what he might have gone on

to achieve had he lived longer.

Tragically for all of us, he
was cut down by a Roman soldier

because he refused
to stop working.

As a historian, I have so
much respect for Archimedes.

And he's one of these
people that I would just

love to have met for one hour.

He was stimulating.

He was intriguing.

And above all, he had a
brilliantly original mind.

NARRATOR: So brilliant and so
original that it's strongly

suspected he was behind
what's been called the world's

first computer, an unbelievably
advanced calculating machine.

It could only have been created
by a genius and possibly

the most incredible
mind in history.

And that's why some
attribute it to Archimedes.

It is one of the greatest
what-ifs of history.

If Archimedes hadn't been
killed before his time,

what could he have achieved?

The Industrial Revolution
could have happened 2,000 years

earlier.

He might have kick-started
the modern age.

And I'm sure he would
have created worlds

that we can't even imagine.

And that is why he is
my ancient Einstein.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: We can only imagine
what inventions of Archimedes

have been lost to history.

Much of his work, like that
of our other ancient geniuses,

was written on scrolls and kept
at the Library of Alexandria.

In 48 BC, when Julius Caesar
was attacking the city,

it's thought that much
of the Great Library

was destroyed by fire.

What other works of
genius were destroyed?

We'll never know.

There may even have
been ancient geniuses

of whom we know nothing.

Is it possible that
one day we'll discover

a new ancient Einstein?

From what we do
know, it's clear that

the ancient Greek inventors
were all extraordinary men.

They began modern science
over 2,000 years ago.

They were truly
ancient Einsteins.