upload.wikimedia.org The Claw of Archimedes was a defensive weapon built by the legendary mathematician to defend the city of Syracuse, in modern-day Sicily, against a naval assault.

Some of the concepts and contraptions featured in the exhibit include Archimedes’ Ballista, the Claw of Archimedes, Archimedes’ Heat Ray and the Archimedes’ Screw.

Archimedes of Syracuse was born in around 287 BCE in Sicily, and in the roughly 75 years he was around he basically invented math, physics, and engineering as we’ve known them ever since.