The Vitruvius' Tale of Archimedes and the Golden Crown - by Amelia Carolina Sparavigna

Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, who lived during the first century BC, was a Roman writer, architect and engineer. He wrote a book on architecture, "The Architecture", that he dedicated to the emperor Augustus [1]. Surviving from the classical antiquity, this book inspired several architects and artists of the Renaissance. "The Architecture" is also the source of one of the most famous and popular anecdote on Archimedes of Syracuse, one of the greatest scientists in classical antiquity. Greek mathematician and physicist, inventor and astronomer, Archimedes lived in the third century BC, and died during the Siege of Syracuse, killed by a Roman soldier.

Vitruvius tells us that Archimedes devised a method for measuring the volume of objects with irregular shape: this description is also known as the tale on the golden crown. According to Vitruvius, King Hiero of Syracuse ordered a golden votive crown for a temple. Having some doubts, the king asked Archimedes to determine whether some silver had been used