How Archimedes Solved a Problem
The anecdote of Archimedes may serve as an introduction to problem-solving through confrontation: Archimedes, an all-round scientist, got the commission from the tyrant Hieron II, to check whether a delivered crown by a goldsmith was made of pure gold or whether he detached some gold by some measures. The specific weight of gold was known at that time, so the volume of the crown determined whether the crown corresponds to the specific gravity of pure gold.
The crown was very artfully designed so Archimedes could not make a geometric calculation. He worked intensively on the problem but came to no solution. For relaxation, he went to the bathhouse and sat with his plump body in a bathtub: Bath water overflowed. At that moment, a solution shot through the head: Place the crown into a bowl of water filled to the brim, and pour the overflowing water in a geometrically defined vessel. Then the volume of the spilled water can easily be calculated.
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Geschka, H., Schwarz-Geschka, M. (2019). Confrontation Techniques: Inspiration of Ideas by Unrelated Stimuli. In: Encyclopedia of Creativity, Invention, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6616-1_200048-1
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