How did archimedes measure the mass of the block of gold?

Archimedes found a piece of gold and a piece of silver with exactly the same mass. He dropped the gold  into a bowl filled to the brim with water and measured the volume of water that spilled out. Then he did the same thing with the piece of solver. Although both metals had the same mass, the silver gad a larger volume; therefore, it displaced more water than the gold did. That's because the silver was less dense than gold. Afterwards he applied the same method to the crown for the king he served who had got a new crown from a jeweler who gave it to him. Archimedes found a piece of pure gold that had the same mass as the crown. He placed the pure gold chuck and the crown in water, one at a time. The crown displaced more water the piece of gold. Therefore, its density was less than pure gold.  

Amethod of procedure that has characterized natural science since the 17th century, consisting in systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, and the formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses.