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Work #1814

On Floating Bodies

Archimedes of Syracuse
c. 250 BCE · Ancient Greek (Doric)
Mathematical-physical treatise (axioms, propositions, proofs) · Greek mathematical physics

A body immersed in fluid is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced — the birth of mathematical physics

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute On Floating Bodies
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Finite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Curved
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Finite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Mediated
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Active
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency not engaged
Observer · Moral Authority Reason
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Finite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Reversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation not engaged
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

On Floating Bodies

Hydrostatics is the physics of equilibrium — time is the stable background. Deterministic: physical laws hold necessarily.

Space

On Floating Bodies

Curved: fluid surfaces are spherical (centred on the Earth). Three-dimensional, local, substantival.

Matter

On Floating Bodies

Substantival, finite, conserved: fluids and solids have definite weight and volume; displacement is exact.

Observer

On Floating Bodies

The mathematician-physicist who postulates, deduces, and (implicitly) experiments. Embodied and active.

Energy

On Floating Bodies

The equilibrium principle is an implicit energy-conservation statement: no work is done in hydrostatic equilibrium.

Information

On Floating Bodies

Mathematical truths are substantival, universal, and conserved. Continuous magnitudes throughout.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

On Floating Bodies

The idealised fluid (continuous, uniform, perfectly gravitating toward a centre) vs. real fluids. The treatise assumes a spherical Earth but applies to finite containers. The gap between mathematical postulate and physical reality drives all subsequent fluid mechanics.