On Floating Bodies

On Floating Bodies I-II

Author	Archimedes
Language	Ancient Greek
Genre	Hydrostatics

On Floating Bodies (Greek: Περὶ τῶν ἐπιπλεόντων σωμάτων) is a work, originally in two books, by Archimedes, one of the most important mathematicians, physicists, and engineers of antiquity. Thought to have been written towards the end of Archimedes' life, On Floating Bodies I-II survives only partly in Greek and in a medieval Latin translation from the Greek. It is the first known work on hydrostatics, of which Archimedes is recognized as the founder.^[1]

The purpose of On Floating Bodies I-II was to determine the positions that various solids will assume when floating in a fluid, according to their form and the variation in their specific gravities. The work is known for containing the first statement of what is now known as Archimedes' principle.