Skip to main content
Scientific American
  • Sign In
  • |Newsletters
  • COVID
  • Health
  • Mind & Brain
  • Environment
  • Technology
  • Space & Physics
  • Video
  • Podcasts
  • Opinion
  • Subscribe
  • Current Issue
  • Sign In
  • Newsletters
      • Share
      • Latest

      Save $10 on digital!

      The Sciences

      Vitruvius' Odometer

      A machine for measuring mileage that the Roman engineer described but may never have seen proved puzzling to Leonardo 1,500 years later. It may have been invented by Archimedes during the first Punic War

      • By André Wegener Sleeswyk on October 1, 1981
      • Share on Facebook
      • Share on Twitter
      • Share on Reddit
      • Share on LinkedIn
      • Share via Email
      • Print
      Advertisement

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)

        Advertisement

        Newsletter

        Get smart. Sign up for our email newsletter.

        Sign Up

        Support Science Journalism

        Discover world-changing science. Explore our digital archive back to 1845, including articles by more than 150 Nobel Prize winners.

        Subscribe Now!Support Science Journalism

        Follow us

        • instagram
        • soundcloud
        • youtube
        • twitter
        • facebook
        • rss

        Scientific american arabic

        العربية
        • Return & Refund Policy
        • About
        • Press Room
        • FAQs
        • Contact Us
        • Site Map
        • Advertise
        • SA Custom Media
        • Terms of Use
        • Privacy Policy
        • Your US State Privacy Rights
        • Your Privacy Choices/Manage Cookies
        • International Editions
        Scientific American is part of Springer Nature, which owns or has commercial relations with thousands of scientific publications (many of them can be found at www.springernature.com/us). Scientific American maintains a strict policy of editorial independence in reporting developments in science to our readers.

        © 2023 Scientific American, a Division of Springer Nature America, Inc.

        All Rights Reserved.

        Scroll To Top

        Support science journalism.

        Scientific American paper issue and on tablet

        Thanks for reading Scientific American. Knowledge awaits.

        Already a subscriber? Sign in.

        Thanks for reading Scientific American. Create your free account or Sign in to continue.

        Create Account

        See Subscription Options

        Continue reading with a Scientific American subscription.

        You may cancel at any time.

        Sign in.