"[T]here were... no mathematical methods for determination of pressure distribution over bodies immersed in fluids. Stevinus was... the first... to attempt such... on the basis of his 'solidification principle'. ...[H]e ...established that pressure is independent of the configuration of the body, and depends only on the weight of the column of water above it. The other original contribution... was the establishment of the... 'hydrostatic paradox': the pressure experienced by the bottom of the vessel containing a fluid depends only on the (horizontal) area of the bottom and the depth below the surface of the fluid, but... not... on the shape of the vessel. ...Stevinus described how he and ...Gretius had experimented ...and found that a lightweight and heavyweight body dropped from the same height took the same time to reach the ground. This was contrary to Aristotle's theory..."