Mathematician, statesman, and Pythagorean pilot. Archytas of Tarentum (fl. 4th century BCE) merged math and mechanics, supposedly building a steam-powered pigeon that actually flew. He pioneered mathematical harmonics and saved Plato’s life once — no big deal. More than a theorist, he brought geometry into motion and logic into politics. Where others philosophized, Archytas engineered. If ancient thought had a Renaissance man before the Renaissance, this was the guy.