Archimedes
Names: ArchimedesC.3.41
First appears in Book 1: We Are Legion, chapter 30 (Bob – April 2165 – Delta Eridani)
Appearances
What you know
Book 1: We Are Legion
- Ch 30Archimedes is a young Deltan who invented a hafted stone tool for his mother; Bob names him and assigns a drone to watch him constantly.
- Ch 30Archimedes spends his days alone investigating his world, and makes twine by splitting and drying vine strands.
- Ch 35Given flint by the Bobs, Archimedes trades it, learns knapping, and invents a hafted axe to make straighter pointed sticks.
- Ch 35Archimedes gains status by giving his improved sticks to the biggest Deltans.
- Ch 35Archimedes invents the flint-tipped spear, shifting the balance forward so thrown spears fly true.
- Ch 35Archimedes agrees to make spear points for everyone in exchange for a share of every kill.
- Ch 39Archimedes uses the buster drone's surviving steel caps as a hammer and anvil.
- Ch 44Archimedes is sceptical and shrewd, and scorns most elders as incurious.
- Ch 44Archimedes tells the elders the floating drone calls itself 'the bawbe', and that the Deltans must fight their own battles.
- Ch 48Archimedes is effectively a member of the tribal council and entering puberty.
- Ch 50Archimedes judges Bob's tent idea impractical for travel, but he and Arnold embrace spear-straightening.
- Ch 53Archimedes accepts Bob's medical ideas but won't confront the tribe's medicine woman, offering an introduction instead.
Book 2: For We Are Many
- Ch 1Archimedes is Bob's main contact among the Deltans, and Bob has more or less adopted Archimedes' hexghi as family.
- Ch 3Archimedes is a teenage Deltan, the most intelligent on Eden, and the only one able to learn flint-knapping from Moses.
- Ch 3Archimedes is the primary spokesperson for The Bawbe and has picked up Bob's dry sense of humor.
- Ch 11Archimedes and Diana formalize their mating during the breeding season.
- Ch 16Archimedes now has a growing family.
- Ch 19Archimedes and Diana have a cub, who will receive a Naming Ceremony when he speaks his first word.
- Ch 19After the attack, some Deltans give Archimedes the cold shoulder because of his association with Bob.
- Ch 19Archimedes reacts to the island's destruction with awe and fear of Bob.
- Ch 22Archimedes still meets Bob secretly, learning about bows and arrows, which he disguises as small spears for Buster.
- Ch 22Archimedes is still given the cold shoulder at Camelot and worries about his family being affected by his ties to Bob.
- Ch 27Archimedes has adopted Bob's tent design, and he and his now-tall son Buster hunt with bows and arrows.
- Ch 41Archimedes and Buster, known as expert archers, guard their tent with bows while Belinda and Diana hold spears.
- Ch 41Archimedes observes the village is tensest when everyone is home and calmer when hunters are out.
- Ch 47Archimedes gets credit for masterminding the plan to move the troublemakers out of Camelot.
- Ch 56Archimedes has three children and a fourth on the way, and is the tribe's premier toolmaker.
- Ch 65In his forties, Archimedes remains exceptionally healthy and seems to be aging slowly for a Deltan.
- Ch 71Archimedes tells Bob that Charlie smells of drones and ashes and has an unnaturally symmetrical fur pattern.
- Ch 71Archimedes now understands that Bob is not supernatural, and their friendship has deepened as the awe faded.
- Ch 76Archimedes' children include Buster, Rosa and Pete.
- Ch 76Archimedes is about seventy, slightly older than Moses was at his death, and Moses had been considered ancient.
Book 3: All These Worlds
- Ch 28Archimedes finds Fred's spear crudely made, suggesting Caerleon's hunters fail because of poor equipment.
- Ch 34Archimedes is kidnapped and beaten unconscious by a party from Caerleon.
- Ch 34Archimedes recovers within a week without losing his eye; he has a granddaughter named Lisa.
- Ch 34Archimedes proposes offering to teach some Caerleon people toolmaking, believing hunger will make them listen.
- Ch 40Archimedes, still not fully recovered from the kidnapping, plans to make spear-heads and knife blades to offer Caerleon and end the fighting.
- Ch 40Archimedes keeps the spear-head from Fred's spear.
- Ch 49Archimedes now trains three Caerleon apprentices in flint-working, the most determined of a dozen volunteers.
- Ch 49Archimedes still has a cough and a badly set bone from the kidnapping beating, worrying Bob.
- Ch 60Archimedes' coughing fits are worsening and he believes he will soon join Diana in death.
- Ch 60Archimedes tells Bob he has had a good life and feels he is done.
- Ch 68Archimedes dies in his sleep; almost every living Deltan attends his huge funeral.
Connections
- member ofDelta Eridani 4 natives
- related toMosesteacher of flint knappinglearns flint-knapping from
- ally ofArnold
- ally ofMoses
- related toBobBob protects him
- ally ofBob
- partner ofDianalife mate
- friend ofBob
- friend ofDiana
- family ofBusterson
- friend ofBuster
- member ofDeltan council
- family ofRosachild
- family ofPetechild
- family ofLisagrandfather
Key moments
- Book 1 · Ch 30Bob discovers Archimedes
Studying the Deltans, Bob notices a hafted stone tool and traces it to an inventive young Deltan he names Archimedes, then watches him around the clock.
- Book 1 · Ch 35Flint gift to Archimedes
The Bobs drop flint near Archimedes; he trades it, learns knapping from Moses, and builds a hafted axe to produce better pointed sticks.
- Book 1 · Ch 35Deltans rout the gorilloids
Armed with Archimedes' sticks, Deltans impale charging gorilloids and drive them off; a lucky throw kills one, introducing spear-throwing.
- Book 1 · Ch 35Invention of the flint-tipped spear
Archimedes ties a flint flake to a spear, making it throwable; after a tense tribal meeting backed by Arnold, he trades spear points for a share of every kill.
- Book 1 · Ch 37Great gorilloid assault
Thirty-one gorilloids attack; Arnold turns Archimedes' axe on them and Bob's buster drone kills one about to reach Archimedes, routing the rest.
- Book 1 · Ch 44First contact with Archimedes
Bob speaks to Archimedes via a drone and persuades him to urge his people to relocate to an old village.
- Book 1 · Ch 44The bawbe appears to the elders
When the elders mock Archimedes, Bob's drone hovers over him, silencing them; a long debate on moving follows, with Moses and Arnold in support.
- Book 1 · Ch 48Deltan migration begins
After preparing preserved food, the tribe sets out for the old flint village, watched by gorilloids and guarded by Bob's drones.
- Book 1 · Ch 53Migration resumes
With busters replenished, the Deltans resume their march through jungle, enduring three more attacks before reaching the flint site.
- Book 1 · Ch 55Arrival at the flint site
The Deltans reach and settle the old flint site, which is surrounded by gorilloids; busters guard the perimeter and Archimedes and Moses start making tools.
- Book 2 · Ch 3Archimedes learns about the Bobs
On the bluff above Camelot, Archimedes asks how many Bawbes exist, and Bob explains that each brother is a copy of himself with a slightly different personality.
- Book 2 · Ch 3Deltans settle into Camelot
The Deltans practice flint-knapping and spear-throwing in their defensible new village, though gorilloids still claim lives.
- Book 2 · Ch 11Archimedes wins a mate
Using jujitsu moves Bob taught him, Archimedes beats bigger rivals during breeding season and pairs with Diana.
- Book 2 · Ch 11Predator victim found near Camelot
Marvin finds a predator-killed Deltan skeleton near Camelot; Bob consults Archimedes and Moses, posts perimeter drones, and Marvin expands the search.
- Book 2 · Ch 19Deltans banish Bob
The Deltan council, through Hoffa, tells Bob he is no longer welcome; a devastated Bob withdraws, telling Archimedes he will talk to him later.
- Book 2 · Ch 22Bob's secret meetings with Archimedes
Despite his banishment, Bob secretly meets Archimedes, protecting Camelot from hippogriffs and teaching him about bows and arrows.
- Book 2 · Ch 41Riot in the village
Deltans fight Deltans in a riot sparked by a dispute over food; seventeen die while Archimedes' family stands armed at the edge.
- Book 2 · Ch 41Bob's resettlement plan
Bob coaches Archimedes to talk openly about resettling other village sites so the gangs will want to go first.
- Book 2 · Ch 47Troublemakers leave Camelot
Bob's reverse-psychology plan works: Camelot's worst troublemakers march off to resettle an old village, and Archimedes gets the credit.
- Book 2 · Ch 56Archery contest
Buster outshoots Donald in an archery contest as Bob reflects on the growing Deltan population and his lasting banishment.
- Book 2 · Ch 65Archimedes becomes a grandfather
Belinda gives birth to a pup as Archimedes, Buster and Diana look on, while Bob watches unseen and wishes he could share the moment.
- Book 2 · Ch 71Charlie's first test
Bob activates his Deltan android Charlie and meets Archimedes, who points out the odour and symmetrical fur; Bob fixes both.
- Book 2 · Ch 71Bob visits Camelot in disguise
In Charlie, Bob walks into Camelot with Archimedes and sits at his family fire, unrecognised even by Diana.
- Book 2 · Ch 76Diana's funeral
Diana dies and is buried by Archimedes, their children and many descendants; Bob attends in the android Charlie and watches Archimedes grieve.
- Book 3 · Ch 10Donald proposes a counter-hunt
Back at Archimedes' flint-working site, Donald suggests going on a hunt of their own to question Caerleon, while Bob suspects more than Fred is behind the trouble.
- Book 3 · Ch 28Archimedes examines Fred's spear
Archimedes notes the spear's poor workmanship, leading Bob to suspect Caerleon's aggression comes from inferior tools.
- Book 3 · Ch 34Rescue of Archimedes
After Caerleon raiders kidnap Archimedes, Bob, Buster, Donald and hunters intercept them; Buster kills Fred and the raiders are routed, with eight Caerleons down and three dead.
- Book 3 · Ch 34Plan to teach Caerleon
Learning Caerleon's poor tools and hunger drive their hostility, the group agrees to offer Archimedes' training to some Caerleon people.
- Book 3 · Ch 40Archimedes prepares a peace offering
After a storm, Archimedes roughs out flint blanks for spear-heads and knives to offer Caerleon as a way into teaching them; Bob promises to talk to Donald.
- Book 3 · Ch 49Peace with Caerleon
Archimedes' spear-point gift wins over Caerleon; he trains three apprentices and trade grows between the villages.
- Book 3 · Ch 60Archimedes is dying
As Archimedes' cough worsens, he tells Bob he is ready to die, and Bob is overwhelmed by grief at losing his friend.
- Book 3 · Ch 68Death of Archimedes
Bob finds Archimedes dead; after the funeral he secretly leaves a guardian drone in the grave, admits to Buster he is the Bawbe, and departs the village.