We all know Archimede for his famous "Eureka!", but
very few of us know the real importance of his story. Allow me to share
it with you.
King Hiero ordered a solid gold crown of laurels to be made for himself. He then made Archimedes responsible for verifying whether the crown was made of pure gold or whether the dishonest blacksmith had added silver to the mix. Archimedes had to find a way to measure the density of the object. The simplest solution would have been to melt down the laurel wreath but this was unfortunately not an option. Archimedes became obsessed with this problem and all his time was dedicated to the unsolvable mystery. For many months, he was unable to make any progress in his work and the king was becoming increasingly impatient.
His wife, feeling neglected yet again, came
to visit him one evening in his workshop. She suggested that he take a
bath and join her in bed. After protesting slightly, he decided that a
bath could only do him good considering the sorry state of his
self-esteem and hygiene. Upon stepping into the bath, he noticed a
change in the level of the water. There it was, the solution he had been seeking for so long. The volume
of any object could be measured proportionally to the increase of the
water level by immersing it in a water basin: hence the density formula
of mass / volume. Archimedes was so excited by his discovery that he
did not even take the time to get dressed. As the story goes, he ran
naked in the streets all the way to the castle to notify the king.
History portrays Archimedes as a math genius and his findings are still referred to today. But, by digging a little deeper into the story, we come to the conclusion that Archimedes made another discovery that day, one that is not often mentioned: the importance of taking a bath. A bath is taken, of course, for hygienic purposes but also for simply taking a break, for disconnecting when a problem seems unsolvable. This act of detachment allows us to be more objective, to gain a clear perspective – something that is otherwise impossible to attain.
I have come to the conclusion that the real genius in Archimedes’ home was his wife and her brilliant idea to take a needed break. Should you have a problem, whatever it is, when there seems to be no solution in sight, why not just take a bath!