~Archimedes
Actually, he said something to the effect:
"give me a lever long enough and a place to stand and I can move the Earth."
Although he never, as far as we know, ever said anything like Newton's laws of conservation of force or momentum, it appears that Archimedes had some intuitive understanding of them. In any case, you can't have a lever without a fulcrum.
Yeah, I came across several variations of the quote when I did a quick search on the Web.
I imagine much of the Secrets of the Ancients must've been lost through translation.
One of the quotes even had Archimedes looking for a place to stand, but left out the reference to the lever.
Sheeesh! Go figger!
;^)