The drawings illustrating Faraday's experiments are from exact reproductions of Faraday's apparatus, made by Mr. Joseph G. Branch, author of _Conversations on Electricity_, and are reproduced by his kind permission. E. E. B. CHICAGO, _June, 1910_. THE STORY OF GREAT INVENTIONS Chapter I THE AGE OF ARCHIMEDES Archimedes, the First Great Inventor Archimedes, the first great inventor, lived in Syracuse more than two thousand years ago. Syracuse was a Greek city on the island of Sicily. The King of Syracuse, Hiero, took great interest in the discoveries of Archimedes. One day Archimedes said to King Hiero that with his own strength he could move any weight whatever. He even said that, if there were another earth to which he could go, he could move this earth wherever he pleased. The King, full of wonder, begged of him to prove the truth of his statement by moving some very heavy weight. Whereupon Archimedes caused one of the King's galleys to be drawn ashore. This required many hands and much labor. Having manned the ship and put on board her usual loading, he placed himself at a distance and easily moved with his hand the end of a machine which consisted of a variety of ropes and pulleys, drawing the ship over the sand in as smooth and gentle a manner as if she had been under sail. The King, quite astonished, prevailed with Archimedes to make for him all manner of machines which could be used either for attack or defence in a siege. The Battle of Syracuse During the life of King Hiero Syracuse had no occasion to use the war machines of Archimedes. The grandson of King Hiero, who succeeded to the throne, was a tyrant. He attempted to throw off the sovereignty of Rome and entered into an alliance with Carthage. His cruelty toward his own people was so great that, after a short reign, he was assassinated. There was anarchy in Syracuse for a time, the Roman and anti-Roman parties striving for supremacy. The anti-Roman party gaining possession of the city, the Romans, in order to bring Syracuse again into subjection, prepared for an attack by sea and land. Then it was that Syracuse had need of the war machines made by Archimedes (Fig. 1). [Illustration: FIG. 1--THE BATTLE OF SYRACUSE The city defended by the inventions of Archimedes.] The Romans came with a large land force and a fleet. They were sure that within five days they could conquer the city. But there are times when one man with brains is worth more than an army. In the battle which followed, Archimedes with his inventions was more than a match for the Romans. The city was strong from the fact that the wall on one side lay along a chain of hills with overhanging brows; on the other side the wall had its foundation close down by the sea.