Inventions Hero of Alexandria

hero s aeolipile

hero described construction of aeolipile (a version of known hero s engine) rocket-like reaction engine , first-recorded steam engine (although vitruvius mentioned aeolipile in de architectura 100 years earlier hero). created 2 millennia before industrial revolution. engine used air closed chamber heated altar fire displace water sealed vessel; water collected , weight, pulling on rope, opened temple doors. historians have conflated 2 inventions assert aeolipile capable of useful work.

hero s wind-powered organ (reconstruction)



the first vending machine 1 of constructions; when coin introduced via slot on top of machine, set amount of holy water dispensed. included in list of inventions in book mechanics , optics. when coin deposited, fell upon pan attached lever. lever opened valve let water flow out. pan continued tilt weight of coin until fell off, @ point counter-weight snap lever , turn off valve.
a windwheel operating organ, marking first instance in history of wind powering machine.
hero invented many mechanisms greek theater, including entirely mechanical play ten minutes in length, powered binary-like system of ropes, knots, , simple machines operated rotating cylindrical cogwheel. sound of thunder produced mechanically-timed dropping of metal balls onto hidden drum.
the force pump used in roman world, , 1 application in fire-engine.
a syringe-like device described hero control delivery of air or liquids.
in optics, hero formulated principle of shortest path of light: if ray of light propagates point point b within same medium, path-length followed shortest possible. 1000 years later alhacen expanded principle both reflection , refraction, , principle later stated in form pierre de fermat in 1662; modern form path @ extremum.
a standalone fountain operates under self-contained hydrostatic energy (hero s fountain)
a programmable cart powered falling weight. program consisted of strings wrapped around drive axle.




^ hero (1899). pneumatika, book ΙΙ, chapter xi . herons von alexandria druckwerke und automatentheater (in greek , german). wilhelm schmidt (translator). leipzig: b.g. teubner. pp. 228–232. 
^ hero of alexandria (1851). temple doors opened fire on altar . pneumatics of hero of alexandria. bennet woodcroft (trans.). london: taylor walton , maberly (online edition university of rochester, rochester, ny). archived original on 2008-05-09. retrieved 2008-04-23. 
^ example: mokyr, joel (2001). twenty-five centuries of technological change. london: routledge. p. 11. isbn 0-415-26931-8. among devices credited hero aeolipile, working steam engine used open temple doors  , wood, chris m.; mcdonald, d. gordon (1997). history of propulsion devices , turbo machines . global warming. cambridge, england: cambridge university press. p. 3. isbn 0-521-49532-6. 2 exhaust nozzles...were used direct steam high velocity , rotate sphere...by attaching ropes axial shaft hero used developed power perform tasks such opening temple doors 
^ humphrey, john w.; john p. oleson; andrew n. sherwood (1998). greek , roman technology: sourcebook. annotated translations of greek , latin texts , documents. routledge sourcebooks ancient world. london , new york: routledge. isbn 978-0-415-06137-7. , pp. 66–67
^ a.g. drachmann, heron s windmill , centaurus, 7 (1961), pp. 145–151
^ dietrich lohrmann, von der östlichen zur westlichen windmühle , archiv für kulturgeschichte, vol. 77, issue 1 (1995), pp. 1–30 (10f.)
^ woodcroft, bennet (1851). pneumatics of hero of alexandria. london: taylor walton , maberly. retrieved january 27, 2010. no. 57. description of syringe 
^


noel sharkey (july 4, 2007), programmable robot ad 60, 2611, new scientist 
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