what is the evidence for the use of the claw of archimedes?

• Archimedes, born in Syracuse, was one of the greatest mathematicians and scientists of all time, and his inventions continue to be used today.
• Many of Archimedes’ inventions were originally designed to prove his mathematical and mechanical theories and were adapted for military use when Syracuse was attacked by the Romans under Marcellus.
• The first historian Plutarch and others describe a number of “engines,” including catapults, invented by Archimedes to hurl arrows and rocks at attacking Roman troops and ships.
• Some of the rocks hurled from Archimedes’ catapults weighed as much as 700 pounds.
• Marcellus reported a device that made it appear as if the city wall rapidly shot out arrows and stones at the attacking troops.
• Marcellus also used a variety of weapons able to hurl or shoot projectiles at attackers both at great range and directly under the city’s walls.
• The Archimedes claw used the principle of leverage to tip over ships with minimal force, and defenders of Syracuse weaponized this principle by firing ropes with a crow’s-head-shaped device at the Roman ships and pulling on the ropes to overturn or dash them on Syracuse’s rugged coastline.
• The claws’ delivery method is uncertain, and suggestions vary from cranes to catapults and trebuchet-like devices.
• Archimedes is also credited with using a system of mirrors to direct the heat of the sun at Roman ships, setting them ablaze, but many modern historians and scientists doubt this claim.
• Archimedes is also credited with inventing the steam cannon, which allegedly used rapidly-heated steam to propel a projectile and may have caused the fires attributed to the “death ray.”
• Leonardo da Vinci, Plutarch, and others claimed that Archimedes invented the steam cannon, but it is unclear if he did.
• In 2005, MIT engineering students replicated Archimedes’ purported use of mirrors to set a ship ablaze, lending some plausibility to the claim.
• The MIT students also successfully tested the steam cannon’s feasibility using a design similar to the one credited to Archimedes by Leonardo.
• Archimedes also made significant contributions to arithmetic, geometry, mechanics, and hydrostatics that are foundational to much of our modern understanding of these fields.

I am sorry, but I have to inform you that I can’t memorize web pages or any type of information since I am an artificial intelligence language model and I don’t have the ability to store data. However, I can provide a summary of the page as a set of bullet points as per your instructions mentioned in the previous message. Here is the summary of the page:

• Archimedes was one of the greatest mathematicians of ancient Greece and is responsible for discovering the most accurate approximation of pi in his time, and for finding a way to take the measurement of a circle.
• Archimedes’s discoveries and the books he wrote on the subjects of his discoveries have led to him being known as one of the three greatest mathematicians of Ancient Greece.
• Archimedes utilized his mathematics and physics principles to create war machines that disabled Roman ships, which he used in defense of Syracuse, his home, against the Roman army.
• Archimedes war machines were quite a feat of brute strength and engineering and included a giant claw that was attached to a heavy chain, which would be let down and securely attached to the prow of the ship.
• Then, a giant lever was pressed down, causing the prow of the ship to be lifted up out of the water making the ship stand on its stern.
• Then, using a rope and pulley system, the giant claw and chain would suddenly be loosed causing the capsizing of the ship or the plunging of the ship into the water where it was quickly filled and sunk.
• Archimedes also created catapults to launch rocks and other heavy objects at ships. One form of catapult is the trebuchet that utilizes a weighted beam and sling which swings in an arc launching heavy stones and timbers far enough to destroy moored enemy ships.
• Archimedes’s death ray, also referred to as the burning mirror, utilized concentrated rays of the sun to set Roman ships on fire.
• The controversy surrounds this Archimedes war machine, and it is uncertain whether it actually worked or not.
• Archimedes’s achievements were not limited to war machines, but he also made remarkable contributions to mathematics that survived till the current time.
• The page features several references to explore further and gain more information about Archimedes, war machines, and his mathematical contributions.

I hope this helps!

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• Archimedes was a Greek inventor who lived in Syracuse, Sicily, during the third century BC.
• Syracuse was attacked by the Roman army and navy in 215 BC.
• Archimedes designed a number of war machines to fight back against the Roman army during the Siege of Syracuse.
• The story of Archimedes’ war machines was chronicled by later historians Polybius, Livy, and Plutarch.
• Among Archimedes’ machines were catapults that were able to fling stones of several hundred pounds to repel the attackers from a distance and smaller, short-range engines for when they managed to get closer to the walls.
• Arrow-loops were cut into the walls through which archers and “small scorpions,” small missile-engines possibly like crude crossbows, shot at the Romans.
• Archimedes built contraptions into the walls themselves: great beams that would remain hidden until swinging out over the top of the walls and dropping heavy stones or grappling hooks onto any attackers that got too close.
• The deluge of missiles from the city’s catapults also kept Roman ships at bay, but even when the Romans tried to sneak their ships to the city walls at night, shots from the arrow-loops decimated the sailors, while stones dropped from the walls smashed the ships.
• Archimedes also employed cranes that would drop grappling-hooks onto the ships and lift their bows from the water, causing them to overturn, capsize, or fill with seawater.
• The Roman soldiers became terrified and fled “whenever they saw a bit of rope or stick of timber projecting a little over the wall” convinced that Archimedes was about to unleash some fantastic new weapon upon them.
• It would be three years before Syracuse finally fell.
• Despite some exaggeration, all that Polybius, Livy, and Plutarch describe is plausible.
• The story that Archimedes set the Roman ships on fire appears to be a later invention not found in the classical historians.
• The first mention of Archimedes burning the ships comes from Lucian (c. 120-180 AD).
• One variation tells of Archimedes using an elaborate combination of mirrors or polished shields to focus the sun’s rays on the Roman ships like a giant magnifying glass.
• The version of the story about the burning ships using mirrors or polished shields can be traced back only as far as Galen (130-200 AD).
• Leonardo da Vinci claimed to have read how Archimedes

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• Twenty-three centuries ago, Archimedes designed war machines that could fend off enemies set to invade Syracuse, among which was the Iron Hand, a device so terrifying that it became the primary defense for Syracuse against an invading Roman fleet in 213 BC. (Summary)
• The Iron Hand (or Claw) was a grappling hook suspended from a huge lever that caught the bow of a ship as it approached the city wall. It then jerked the bow skyward, shaking the ship while suspended and then suddenly releasing the hook, causing the ship to crash into the water or onto the rocks below the wall. (Summary)
• Archimedes spent the many peaceful years Syracuse enjoyed as a result of King Hiero II’s alliance with Rome preparing the city’s defenses. Polybius, Livy, and Plutarch all attest to this fact. (Introduction)
• Archimedes was Syracuse’s chief military engineer, scientist, and mathematician during the Second Punic War. (Introduction)
• Syracuse was surrounded by a 27-kilometer wall, which all traces of along the seacoast are now gone. (Introduction)
• The northern land walls of Syracuse and the sea walls of the section of the city known as Achradina were attacked by Rome in 213 BC. (Introduction)
• The Iron Hand was one of the many military machines Archimedes used against Marcellus’ attack. (Introduction)
• Plutarch does not identify the precise location where Marcellus’ fleet attacked, while Livy places it at “the wall of Achradina, which … is washed by the sea …” (Introduction)
• Syracuse’s defenses that were engineered by Archimedes included the giant Claw (Iron Hand), which was moved by levers, and which could crush attacking Roman ships, holding them fast and then dashing them against the rocks. (Introduction)
• The military background and historical descriptions of the Iron Hand are described in detail on the webpage. (Summary)
• The Iron Hand (ferrea manus in Livy’s Latin and xēra sidhrōn in the Greek of Polybius and Plutarch) was a machine rather than just a grappling hook mentioned in ancient literature to denote a grappling hook by itself. (Iron Hand)
• A detailed review of the historical investigations of other war machines utilized levers, cranes, and grappling hooks is provided on the webpage. (Iron Hand)
• The precise means by which the Iron Hand seized Roman ships

• The webpage describes the Claw of Archimedes, an anti-ship weapon that Archimedes developed and used in the 3rd century BC during the siege of Syracuse by the Romans.
• The Claw consisted of a crane-like arm that was suspended over the water and used a grappling hook to lift enemy ships by the prow and then drop them, causing them to capsize or suffer severe damage.
• A post from 9 years ago on r/todayilearned explains the Claw and garnered over 1000 points.
• One user shared an animated video that shows how the Claw likely functioned.
• A discussion among users ensued on whether it was possible to lift a ship using a wooden mast, practicality, and effectiveness of the Claw, and the historic context of the Siege of Syracuse.
• Some users questioned the effectiveness of the weapon, due to the immense weight of a ship, and whether ships would sail close to the walls.
• But, another user mentions that the walls of Syracuse were built on high ground, creating a sheer drop from seaward.
• The Claw was part of a series of weapons that Archimedes developed to defend Syracuse, starting from long range and getting progressively shorter in range.
• BBC did a test on this kind of Mythbusters style, using materials and technology that would have been available to Archimedes and managed to tip a ship over with it.
• The post has images showing the Claw.
• There are threads of conversation with varying karma from users questioning the plausibility and describing the mechanism of the Claw as well as discussing the Siege of Syracuse.

• The Claw of Archimedes was an ancient weapon.
• It was devised by Archimedes to defend the seaward portion of Syracuse’s city wall against amphibious assault.
• The accounts of ancient historians seem to describe the Claw as a sort of crane equipped with a grappling hook that was able to lift an attacking ship partly out of the water.
• Once lifted, the Claw could cause the ship to capsize or suddenly drop it.
• It was dropped onto enemy ships, which would then swing itself and destroy the ship.
• The exact nature of the Claw of Archimedes is unclear.
• A Reddit user summarized the Claw of Archimedes as “a giant fork.”
• Another Reddit user compared it to “taking out the trash to a whole new level.”
• There was a discussion on whether the Claw of Archimedes or the Archimedes heat ray would be more feasible.
• A Reddit user suggested calling it “DA CLAWWWWWW.”

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Historical accounts of the usage of the claw of Archimedes and its effectiveness in the Siege of Syracuse

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Description of the mechanics and capabilities of the claw of Archimedes