Archimedes

Archimedes of Syracuse treated mechanics as a mathematical science. In On the Equilibrium of Planes he derives the law of the lever from a few postulates. On Floating Bodies states the principle of buoyancy that still bears his name. He begins with axioms, proceeds by deduction, and reaches conclusions that measurement can test. The question is strict. What must follow from the conditions assumed? That turn from qualitative physics to exact demonstration is the method Galileo later takes as his model. Statics, the science of bodies in equilibrium, is the branch he most fully secures.