text: The fundamental principles of hydrostatics and dynamics were given by Archimedes in his work On Floating Bodies (), around 250 BC.  In it, Archimedes develops the law of buoyancy, also known as Archimedes' principle.  This principle states that a body immersed in a fluid experiences a buoyant force equal to the weight of the fluid it displaces.  Archimedes maintained that each particle of a fluid mass, when in equilibrium, is equally pressed in every direction; and he inquired into the conditions according to which a solid body floating in a fluid should assume and preserve a position of equilibrium.