"STEM from the Ancients -
From Archimedes and Hero to the Modern Era"
On Friday, March 13, 2026, during the regular meetings of the Erasmus group, the participating students of the program presented their constructions.
The Archimedes screw (or water screw) is an ancient pump invented in the 3rd century BC
for raising water to a higher level, mainly for irrigation and drainage.
It consists of a helical shaft inside a cylinder,
which, as it rotates, "traps" water and transports it upward,
a technology that is still used today.
It is placed on an incline and, as the screw rotates (manually or mechanically),
water is trapped between the spirals and transported from the lowest to the highest point.
It was probably developed during Archimedes' stay in Egypt
for irrigating crops from the Nile,
while it was also used to pump water from the holds of ships.
Today it is used in sewage treatment plants to lift water and sludge,
as well as for draining areas (e.g. in the Netherlands).
The Archimedes screw is considered one of the oldest machines
that remain in operation, demonstrating the genius of Hellenistic engineering.
The Heron's Fountain(1st century AD) is an automatic fountain
that operates with compressed air and hydrostatic pressure, without external energy.
It consists of three containers (an open basin and two closed ones)
and operates with the movement of water, which falls,
compresses the air and pushes the water upwards.
The inventor was Heron of Alexandria, the Greek engineer, physicist and mathematician.
The water from the upper basin flows into a lower closed container,
compressing the air that is transferred to a second closed container,
forcing the water in it to spurt upwards.
It is considered one of the first "automatic" (self-propelled) systems
based on the principles of pneumatics and hydraulics.
In antiquity, similar structures were used for display
or in religious contexts, functioning as "magic" fountains.
It is a classic example of the advanced technological knowledge
of natural laws during the Hellenistic and Roman periods
Archimedes, in his work "On the Cylinder and Sphere", proved that the volume of a cylinder is 2/3
of the volume of a sphere inscribed in it. He used rigorous geometric methods, similar to integral calculus, to calculate these volumes. The method for measuring the volume of a cylinder was mathematically established by Archimedes. It is based on calculating the space occupied by this three-dimensional shape. The volume V of a cylinder is equal to the product of the area of the base of Eâ times the height h. Since the base is a circle with radius r, its area is Eâ = ðr2. Archimedes' tomb had a sculpture depicting his favorite mathematical proof. of,
consisting of a sphere and a cylinder with the same height and diameter.
Erasmus+ | 2nd Gerakas Senior High School
