Ancient Greek culture is unique for several reasons. Its bearers were able to adopt and implement in their own way the greatest achievements of previous civilizations - the Sumerians, Egyptians, Babylonians. It was the very first civilizations, even before the Greeks, who made the most important discoveries in such areas of human knowledge as mathematics, astronomy, natural history, and architecture.
By the way, we also use this knowledge, being the heirs of the Medieval and Ancient Greek civilizations. Just a small example of the archaic nature of our knowledge about the world, that is, knowledge that bears the imprint of something very ancient.
Today the whole world counts 60 seconds to count a minute, and the same number of minutes to count an hour. But why exactly 60? This tradition of counting time in exactly this way comes from Antiquity. It is certain that the Greeks adopted this tradition from the mathematicians of Mesopotamia. The Babylonians inherited the sexagesimal number system, along with the most accurate tables of observations of celestial bodies, from their more ancient predecessors - the Sumerians. Later, it was also adopted by Greek astronomers.
The origin of the sexagesimal system is still unclear. It is probably associated with another, duodecimal number system. The thing is that 5×12= 60. 5 is the number of fingers on a hand. (6x60). The duodecimal system arose based on the number of phalanges of the four fingers of a hand when counting them with the thumb of the same hand. The phalanges of the fingers were used as the simplest abacus (the thumb kept track of the state of the count), instead of the bending of the fingers, which was common among Europeans.
Reconstruction of the Heron steam turbine
Needless to say, the first civilizations of Mesopotamia and the Nile Valley left the Greeks a rich legacy of applied knowledge. The greatest ancient Greek scientists developed them even further, achieving incredible discoveries in geometry, algebra and physics. The names of many of these scientists are known - Archimedes, the great theoretical mathematician, Euclid, the father of geometry, and Aristotle, who can rightfully be called the father of physics as a theoretical science.
But, perhaps, not a single ancient Greek naturalist achieved such success, and did not make such a large number of various inventions as Heron of Alexandria. He is even considered one of the greatest engineers in the history of mankind. This ancient Greek mechanic and mathematician lived in the first half of the 1st century AD, and little is known about his personal life. Despite this, many of his works have been preserved in their entirety in Arabic translation: Pneumatics, Metrics, Automatopoetics (just listen to how it sounds!), Mechanics, Catoptrics (that is, the science of mirrors). Some of the works are now irretrievably lost, including many scrolls that were kept in the Library of Alexandria). Heron used the achievements of many of his predecessors: Strato of Lampsacus, Archimedes, Euclid. He had a wide range of interests - geometry, optics, mechanics, hydrostatics.
It was he who owned a number of amazing inventions for his time - automatic doors, a rapid-fire self-loading crossbow, a mechanical puppet theater with automatic decorations, a device for measuring the length of roads, that is, an ancient taximeter. He is credited with creating the first programmable device. But let’s make allowances for time - at that time, such a “device” was a shaft with pins on which a rope was wound.
One of Heron's drawings is an organ that produces sound using a windmill
But perhaps Heron’s most amazing invention, 17 centuries ahead of its time, is the steam turbine. Yes, yes, it was he who created the first such engine. For a long time (virtually all of the time except the last 300 years), people worked by hand before the steam engine was invented. First, animal power was used. Then, people learned to use the power of the wind as an energy source, inflating sails and turning windmills. The mill itself was also a kind of engine that pumped water and ground grain.
Heron was the first to suggest that a mechanical shaft could be made to rotate using heat. The operating principle of his apparatus is well known, the drawings of which have survived to this day. In it, the energy of heated and compressed water vapor is converted into kinetic energy, with the help of which mechanical work is performed on the shaft.
However, Heron's engine was too small to do any work. The inventor did not receive due recognition. In the Middle Ages, in Europe, many of his inventions were forgotten, rejected, or simply were of no practical interest. But in vain! Who knows when the industrial age might have begun if the steam engine had been re-invented 400 years earlier. But history does not tolerate the subjunctive mood “what if...”.
Only in 1705, the Englishman Thomas Newcomen invented a steam engine, which began to be used to pump water from coal mines. In the 18th century, another Englishman, James Watt, created an improved engine. He came up with valves that automatically caused the pistons to move up and down. That is, now there was no need for a special person to do this. Thus began the era of the steam engine. Within a hundred years, the first ships powered by steam engines and the first steam locomotives began to sail around the world, the name of which speaks for itself.
One of the last steam locomotives, made in 1944 in Montreal. It weighed 320 tons and was 30 meters long
But the steam engine was quite heavy, since fuel combustion took place in the firebox, which was located separately from the steam boiler. A more advanced gasoline engine was developed a little later in 1878 by the German Nicholas Otto. Such an engine did not require a separate firebox, required less fuel, and was much lighter than a steam engine of similar power.
Thus, European engineering thought, without regard to the experience of past eras, paved its way to progress. Heron himself did not go further than theoretical research. He was forgotten for a long time, and the building of modern science was built practically without his help. However, it is difficult to underestimate the bold genius of this ancient scientist, whose incredible projects were ahead of their time by entire millennia.
Heron of Alexandria is a fairly famous person who has caused a lot of controversy. He invented devices that humanity uses to this day, improving them a little - for example, automatic gates. But, unfortunately, some of his labors were in vain.
The years of life of the famous Greek mathematician and mechanic have become the subject of much debate, but they still date back to the second half of the first century AD. Since the exact date is unknown, qualified historians and biographers have made assumptions and built various versions. Everyone agreed that he lived after Archimedes, since in his works Heron relies on the knowledge presented in his writings. In addition, in his works, the Alexandrian figure mentions the lunar eclipse of March 13, 62 in such a way that one can conclude that he personally observed the above-mentioned phenomenon.
The details of the life of this scientist are unknown; exact data relating to his biography has not been preserved. Perhaps historians of that time were not too interested in this person, but one way or another, all dates are approximate. The birthplace of the great inventor was the city of Alexandria.
Heron is considered a great and talented engineer in human history. He is credited with the invention of automatic doors, the self-loading crossbow, the steam turbine, and the automatic puppet theater. From this we can conclude that he devoted especially much time to automation.
Heron loved the exact sciences with all his soul; his thoughts were completely occupied by geometry, mechanics, and optics. The teacher of this famous inventor is considered to be the equally famous scientist of ancient Greece - Ctesibius, because it was his name that Heron repeatedly mentioned in his notes. Although he also used the inventions of his predecessors - Euclid and Archimedes.
The most important property of Heron of Alexandria are the books that remained after him. These works describe not only the innovations of the author himself, but also the knowledge and discoveries of his contemporaries and other ancient Greek discoverers. Heron's most famous works are works entitled “Metrics”, “Pneumatics”, “Automatopoetics”, “Mechanics”. Descendants saw the last notes only in Arabic; moreover, not all of the author’s above-mentioned works were preserved in the original, author’s version. For example, the manuscript in which Heron describes mirrors exists only in Latin.
In his works on geodesy, the author talks about the first odometer. This is the name of a device that measures distance. In 1814, Heron’s work “On the Diopter” was published, where he sets out the parameters of land surveying, which are based on the use of rectangular coordinates. A diopter is an elementary device for measuring angles, and its discovery is attributed to Heron. The bright mind of this famous scientist was visited by truly brilliant thoughts, but most of his innovations in the Middle Ages were rejected by his contemporaries. This was explained by the fact that such phenomena were of no practical interest.
In his work entitled “Mechanics”, which consists of 3 parts, Heron described 5 types of elementary mechanisms - gate, lever, wedge, block and screw. The above devices formed the basis for more complex structures, and the “golden rule of mechanics” is associated with them - an increase in force when using these mechanisms is achieved by increasing the time spent.
The ball of Aeolus, the progenitor of modern steam turbines, is also mentioned in his works. It can also be considered the first heat engine. The above-mentioned device was essentially a bronze cauldron, which was supported on supports. A pair of tubes were attached to its lid, and they held the sphere. Steam flowed through tubes from the boiler into the sphere, and as it exited the tubes it rotated the sphere.
The fire water pump, which was also discussed in the manuscripts of the discoverer from Alexandria, continuously pumped water, and the miracle fountain (also called Heron’s fountain) operated without using energy.
Many of the scientist’s works concerned optics. He conducted experiments and analyzed problems involving the refraction of light rays, and made assumptions. For example, in the treatise “Catoptrics”, the famous researcher explained the straightness of light rays with the incredibly high speed of their propagation, as well as the type and shape of the mirror that participated in the experiment.
Mathematics treatises contained a large number of formulas. The scientist also had descriptions of geometric figures. Everyone knows Heron's formula from school - it is used to determine the area of a triangle along the semi-perimeter and three sides. And, although it was Archimedes who deduced it, this theorem bears the name of a scientist from Alexandria.
The talented inventor created another incredibly useful device - an automatic oil lamp. In antiquity, an oil lamp was used for lighting, namely a bowl that contained a burning wick, previously soaked in oil. A small piece of fabric acted as a wick, which burned very quickly. The main disadvantage of such a lighting device was that it was necessary to constantly adjust the oil level in the bowl. And if one such lamp could still be controlled, then a servant had to be assigned to several similar devices, who constantly added oil to the lamp and replaced the burnt piece of fabric with a new one. Heron improved this design by attaching a float and a gear to the bowl. When the oil in the bowl ran out, the float dropped to the bottom, and the gear wheel turned and fed a new wick.
Heron paid a lot of attention to theorems and formulas, but in his works he only gave examples of these formulas, and did not describe their proof or application. Therefore, not all of them were in demand in ancient Greece. In the same way, the mechanisms created by Heron did not immediately find application, because in the ancient world all the hard work was done by slaves. And the work of mechanics of that time was not appreciated; it was equated to the work of slaves.
That is why most of Heron’s inventions were set aside for several centuries. Some of the scientist’s inventions were subsequently rediscovered, but by other scientists who did not take credit for other people’s discoveries, but simply did not hear anything about the inventor from Alexandria and his achievements.
The name of Heron is still on everyone’s lips to this day, and this is connected not only with his theorem.
There is another reason. In 1976, the International Astronomical Union named a crater on the far side of the Moon after the great physicist and mathematician, immortalizing it for all time. So, Heron of Alexandria made many discoveries, but only a small part of them was appreciated.
In Europe, many Greek inventions had to be rediscovered after 1000-2000 years. This was the price of three victories - Rome, Christianity and the barbarians.
For example, a construction crane was used in the construction of temples in Ancient Greece around 515 BC. The first "modern" mention of a tap dates back to 1740, France.
Gear mechanisms were used in the 5th century BC, and were further developed only after the 13th century.
Excavations in Athens and Olympia have revealed the presence of showers, baths and hot water pipes, which were built in the 5th century BC. A similar invention was re-made in the 16th century in England.
Urban planning was first carried out by the architect Hippodamus during the construction of the city of Miletus (around 400 BC). It was not until 1800 years later, during the early Renaissance, that Florence was planned.
The crossbow (gastropet) appeared in Ancient Greece around 400 BC. In medieval Europe, it began to be used in the 14th-15th centuries.
The Temple of Artemis of Ephesus was heated by circulating warm air back in the 4th century BC. The central heating system was renewed in the Cistercian monasteries in the 12th century.
The astrolabe was known in Greece around 200 BC, but re-entered Europe via the Arab world and Spain in the 11th century.
The odometer (a device for measuring distances) was used by Alexander the Great and was reinvented by William Clayton in 1847.
It is characteristic that many inventions were made in the largest scientific center of the Greeks - Alexandria, and the most famous inventor of Alexandria was Heron of Alexandria.
Heron of Alexandria, a Greek mathematician and mechanic who lived in the 1st century AD, is considered the greatest engineer in all of human history.
Heron of Alexandria was obsessed with various devices and automatic mechanisms. In addition to the first steam engine, Heron designed mechanical puppet theaters, a fire engine, an odometer, a self-filling oil lamp, a new type of syringe, a topographical instrument similar to a modern theodolite, a water organ, an organ that sounded when a windmill was running, etc. A number of ingenious devices, described in detail by him in a series of textbooks in the 1st century. n. uh, amazing.
His money-depositing machine, like many of his other miracles, was intended for use in temples. The idea behind the mechanism was that the believer would put a 5-drachma bronze coin into the slot and in return receive some water for ritual washing of the face and hands before entering the temple. At the end of the day, the priestesses could pick up donations from the machine. Something similar is done in some modern Roman Catholic cathedrals, where people put change into machines to light electric candles.
The ancient apparatus worked as follows. The coin fell into a small cup, which was suspended from one end of a carefully balanced rocker. Under its weight, the other end of the rocker rose, opened the valve, and holy water flowed out. As soon as the cup dropped, the coin slid down, the end of the rocker with the cup rose, and the other fell, closing the valve and turning off the water.
Heron's ingenious mechanism may have been partly inspired by the idea of a device invented three centuries earlier by Philo of Byzantium. It was a vessel with a rather mysterious mechanism built inside that allowed guests to wash their hands. Above the water pipe was carved a hand holding a pumice ball. When a guest took it to wash his hands before dinner, the mechanical arm disappeared inside the mechanism and water flowed from the pipe. After some time, the water stopped flowing and a mechanical hand appeared with a new piece of pumice prepared for the guest. Unfortunately, Philo did not leave a detailed description of how this exceptional mechanical marvel worked, but it appears to have been based on the same principles as the automaton.
About 2000 years ago, Heron invented automatically opening doors for the temples of the Egyptian city of Alexandria.
In addition, Heron was also a specialist in organizing public spectacles. His design of automatic temple doors was a gift to the Egyptian priests, who for centuries had used mechanical or other miracles to bolster their power and prestige.
Using relatively simple mechanical principles, Heron invented a device that would open the doors of a small temple as if by invisible hands when the priest lit a fire on the altar opposite him.
In a metal ball hidden under the altar, the fire heated the air. It, expanding, pushed water through the siphon into a huge tub. The latter was suspended on chains by a system of weights and pulleys, which rotated the doors on their axes when the tub became heavier.
As the fire on the altar died down, another amazing thing happened. As a result of the rapid cooling of the air in the ball, water was sucked into the siphon in a different way. The empty tub returned upward, setting the pulley system back into motion, and the doors were solemnly closed.
Another design described in the works of Heron is the horn that sounded when the doors of the temple were opened. It played the role of a doorbell and a burglary alarm.
There is no doubt that the system of automatic doors described by Heron was indeed used in Egyptian temples and perhaps elsewhere in the Greco-Roman world. The inventor himself made passing reference to an alternative system used by other engineers: “Some of them use mercury instead of water, since it is heavier and is easily separated by fire.” What Heron meant by the word translated as “disconnects” is still unknown, but the use of mercury instead of water in mechanisms similar to Heron’s design certainly made them more efficient.
Heron's steam engine.
Heron of Alexandria invented the first working steam engine and called it the “wind ball”. Its design is extremely simple. A wide lead cauldron filled with water was placed over a heat source, such as burning charcoal. As the water boiled in two pipes, in the center of which a ball rotated, steam rose. Jets of steam shot through two holes in the ball, causing it to rotate at high speed. The same principle underlies modern jet propulsion.
Could the steam engine be used for practical purposes? To find the answer to this question, the antiquity specialist Dr. J. G. Landels from the University of Reading, with the help of specialists from the Faculty of Engineering, made an accurate working model of Heron's device. He discovered that it had a high rotational speed of at least 1,500 revolutions per minute: “The ball of Heron’s device was perhaps the fastest-spinning object of his time.”
However, Landels had difficulty adjusting the connections between the rotating ball and the steam pipe, which prevented the device from being effective. A loose hinge allowed the ball to rotate faster, but then the steam quickly evaporated; a tight hinge meant that energy was wasted in overcoming friction. Making a compromise, Landels calculated that the efficiency of Heron's mechanism may have been less than one percent. Therefore, to produce one tenth of a horsepower (the power of one person), a fairly large unit would be needed, consuming a huge amount of fuel. More energy would be spent on this than the mechanism itself could produce.
Heron was able to invent a more efficient way to use steam energy. As Landels noted, all the necessary elements for an efficient steam engine are found in the devices described by this ancient engineer. His contemporaries made extremely high-efficiency cylinders and pistons, which Heron used in the design of a water pump to fight fires. A suitable valve mechanism for a steam engine was found in his design of a water fountain powered by compressed air. Its mechanism is similar to a modern insect sprayer. It consisted of a round bronze chamber, which was more advanced than the lead boiler in his steam engine, as it could withstand high pressures.
It would have been easy for Heron or any of his contemporaries to combine all these elements (boiler, valves, piston and cylinder) to make a workable steam engine. It was even argued that Heron went further in his experiments, collecting the necessary elements into an effective steam engine, but either died during testing or abandoned this idea. None of these assumptions are substantiated. Most likely, due to his busy schedule, he was unable to implement this idea. However, there were many other knowledgeable and inventive engineers in Alexandria and the Greco-Roman world. So why didn't any of them develop this idea further? Apparently it's all about economics. The potential of many inventions was never fully realized in the ancient world due to the slave economy. Even if some brilliant scientist managed to create a steam engine capable of doing the work of hundreds of people, the latest mechanism would not arouse interest among industrialists, because they always had labor at hand in the slave market. But the course of history could have been different...
Fountain of Heron.
One of the devices described by the ancient Greek scientist Heron of Alexandria was a magic fountain. The main miracle of this fountain was that the water from the fountain flowed out on its own, without the use of any external water source. The principle of operation of the fountain is clearly visible in the figure. Perhaps someone, looking at the diagram of the fountain, will decide that it does not work. Or, on the contrary, he will mistake such a device for a perpetual motion machine. But from the law of physics on the conservation of energy, we know the impossibility of creating a perpetual motion machine. Let's take a closer look at how Heron's fountain worked.
Heron's fountain consists of an open bowl and two sealed vessels located under the bowl. A completely sealed tube runs from the upper bowl to the lower container. If you pour water into the upper bowl, the water begins to flow through the tube into the lower container, displacing the air from there. Since the lower container itself is completely sealed, the air pushed out by the water through the sealed tube transfers air pressure to the middle bowl. The air pressure in the middle container begins to push the water out, and the fountain begins to work. If, to start working, it was necessary to pour water into the upper bowl, then for further operation of the fountain, the water that fell into the bowl from the middle container was already used. As you can see, the design of the fountain is very simple, but this is only at first glance.
The rise of water into the upper bowl is carried out due to the pressure of water of height H1, while the fountain raises the water to a much greater height H2, which at first glance seems impossible. After all, this should require much more pressure. The fountain should not work. But the knowledge of the ancient Greeks turned out to be so high that they figured out how to transfer water pressure from the lower vessel to the middle vessel, not with water, but with air. Since the weight of air is significantly lower than the weight of water, the pressure loss in this area is very insignificant, and the fountain shoots out of the bowl to a height of H3. The height of the fountain jet H3, without taking into account pressure losses in the tubes, will be equal to the height of water pressure H1.
Thus, in order for the water of the fountain to flow as high as possible, it is necessary to make the structure of the fountain as high as possible, thereby increasing the distance H1. In addition, you need to raise the middle vessel as high as possible. As for the law of physics on the conservation of energy, it is fully observed. Water from the middle vessel flows under the influence of gravity into the lower vessel. The fact that it makes this way through the upper bowl, and at the same time shoots there like a fountain, does not in any way contradict the law on the conservation of energy. As you understand, the operating time of such fountains is not infinite; eventually, all the water from the middle vessel will flow into the lower one, and the fountain will stop working.
Using the example of the construction of Heron's fountain, we see how high the knowledge of ancient Greek scientists in pneumatics was.
Fire of Heron of Alexandria.
Every morning, the priests of the temple lit a sacrificial fire on the altar. And as soon as the fire flared up properly, then immediately, by the will of the gods of ancient Greece, the doors opened from an unknown force. When evening came, the priests extinguished the fire and still, by the will of the gods of ancient Greece, the doors were closed. Nothing but the fire on the altar could open the doors to the temple. The ancient Greeks perceived this as a great miracle, and this made faith in the gods only grow stronger. Even the early Christians considered it a miracle. True, this miracle, in their opinion, was performed not by God, but by the devil.
The principle of operation of this miracle is described in his book by the great scientist of ancient Greece, Heron of Alexandria.
The doors of the temple were not fastened on ordinary hinges, but on round supports that went under the floor of the temple. There was a rope wound around the supports, which could be pulled to open the doors. To automatically close the doors, a counterweight was used in the design. But this is not yet a real miracle. Hiding a person under the floor is not a good idea. It is too easy to detect such deception.
For a real miracle, the property of air to expand when heated was used. The altar was made airtight, and when heated, warm air came out of the altar through a special pipe. Through this pipe, air entered a vessel filled with water. The pressure of hot air began to displace water from the vessel. Water filled a bucket tied to the door opening system through a curved tube. A bucket filled with water pulled a rope, and the doors, at the behest of the great gods of ancient Greece, opened.
In the evening, when the priests stopped maintaining the fire, the air inside the altar began to cool. A weak vacuum was created in the altar and the upper part of the vessel with water, and water from the bucket, under the influence of atmospheric pressure, was directed back into the vessel. The bucket became lighter, and the counterweight closed the doors.
As you can see, the gods of ancient Greece have nothing to do with it. But the boys of ancient Greece did not learn the basics of thermodynamics at school at the age of 14, and girls did not go to school at all. Therefore, even if someone finds out about the mechanisms under the temple, he will still believe that the doors to the temple are opened by the gods of ancient Greece. And certainly not by the priests of the temple.
The mechanism described by Heron is one of the first in the history of heat engine technology. It's actually a water pump. But a very unusual water pump. In this design, the working fluid is not water or steam, but air.
Fire pump of Heron of Alexandria.
One of the devices described in the book of the ancient Greek scientist Heron of Alexandria was a fire water pump. The creator of this fire pump is considered to be another great scientist of ancient Greece, Ctesibius, the teacher of Heron of Alexandria.
The pump described by Heron of Alexandria had all the features of a modern hand pump. It consisted of two working cylinders. Each cylinder had two valves. One is suction, the other is discharge. The pump was equipped with an air equalization cap. A balancer lever was used to drive the pump cylinders. The pump was designed for operation by two people.
The operating principle of the pump is quite simple. When the pump piston moves upward, a reduced pressure is created in the cylinder, and water from the reservoir, under the influence of atmospheric pressure, enters the cylinder.
As the piston moves downward, water under the pressure of the piston exits the cylinder into the air equalization cap. The movement of water in the other direction is prevented by the pump valves.
The main purpose of the equalizing cap is to smooth out fluctuations in water pressure at the outlet of the pump.
Before starting the pump, the equalizing cap is empty and completely filled with air. When the pump is running, the equalizing cap is filled with water coming from the cylinders. Since all air outlets are quickly blocked by water, the air has no choice but to compress under the pressure of the water entering the hood. At a certain stage, the pressure in the system is balanced and water begins to flow out of the equalizing cap up the pipe, and compressed air remains in the upper part of the cap.
When the pistons reach the top or bottom dead points, there is a slight pause in the operation of the pump. But water still continues to come out of the pump. It is the compressed air in the equalizing cap that continues to squeeze out the water. As a result, water flows from the pump constantly, without any pulsations.
The presence of an equalizing cap in the pump shows how high the knowledge in pneumatics of the ancient Greeks was.
Ancient Greek engineer, physicist, mechanic, mathematician, inventor.
Heron of Alexandria (probably 1st-2nd centuries AD) - ancient Greek engineer, physicist, mechanic, mathematician, inventor. He taught in Alexandria. Almost all of his extensive scientific works have reached us.
Heron described the main achievements of the ancient world in the field of applied mechanics. He invented a number of instruments
in and automata, in particular, a device for measuring the length of roads, which operated on the same principle as modern taximeters, various water clocks, etc. He described the diopter device, the great-great-grandfather of the modern theodolite. Heron was the first to study five types of simple machines: lever, gate, wedge, vi
nt and block, laid the foundations of automation. In his work “Pneumatics,” Heron of Alexandria described a number of “magic tricks” based on the principles of using heat and differential pressure. People were amazed by his miracles: the doors of the temple themselves opened when a fire was lit above the altar. This scientist came up with
A machine for selling “holy” water designed a ball rotated by the force of a jet of steam. He invented a number of other instruments and machines.
He most fully systematized the knowledge of the ancients in the field of light phenomena. Following his works, all scientists began to divide optics into catoptrics, i.e. the science of reflection and diopter
iku, i.e. the science of changing the direction of light rays when entering transparent media, or, as we now say, about refraction. Almost 1500 years before Fermat, using a purely geometric method, came to a particular formulation of his principle for reflection: “I will say that from the rays incident from a given point and reflected
converging on a given point, the minimum are those that are reflected from flat and spherical mirrors at equal angles." In the treatise "Catoptrics" (catoptrics is the science of the reflection of rays from mirror surfaces), Heron substantiates the straightness of light rays with an infinitely high speed of propagation.
Next, he gives a proof of the law of reflection, based on the assumption that the path taken by light must be the shortest possible. Following the law of reflection, Heron considers various types of mirrors, paying special attention to cylindrical mirrors. We currently have
We present a five-volume scholarly collection of Heron's works, in which Arabic and Greek texts are accompanied by translations into German.
Heron's mathematical works are an encyclopedia of ancient applied mathematics. The best of them - "Metrics" - gives rules and formulas for exact and approximate
calculations of the areas of regular polygons, volumes of truncated cones and pyramids, the so-called. Heron's formula for determining the area of a triangle based on three sides, found in Archimedes; rules for the numerical solution of quadratic equations and the approximate extraction of quadratic and cubic equations are given.
Original taken from mgsupgs to Heron of Alexandria.
Many of us, studying physics or the history of technology, are surprised to discover that some modern technologies, objects and knowledge were discovered and invented in ancient times. Science fiction writers in their works even use a special term to describe such phenomena: “chronoclasms” - mysterious penetrations of modern knowledge into the past. However, in reality everything is simpler: most of this knowledge was actually discovered by ancient scientists, but then for some reason they were forgotten about and rediscovered centuries later.
In this article, I invite you to get to know one of the amazing scientists of antiquity. He made a huge contribution to the development of science in his time, but most of his works and inventions sank into oblivion and were undeservedly forgotten. His name is Heron of Alexandria.
Heron lived in Egypt in the city of Alexandria and therefore became known as Heron of Alexandria. Modern historians suggest that he lived in the 1st century AD. Only rewritten copies of Heron's works made by his students and followers have survived to our times. Some of them are in Greek, and some are in Arabic. There are also translations into Latin made in the 16th century.
The most famous is Heron's “Metrics” - a scientific work that gives the definition of a spherical segment, a torus, rules and formulas for accurate and approximate calculation of the areas of regular polygons, the volumes of truncated cones and pyramids. In this work, Heron introduces the term “simple machines” and uses the concept of torque to describe their work.
Among other things, Heron gives a description of the device he invented for measuring distances - the odometer.
Rice. Odometer (appearance
Rice. Odometer (internal device)
The odometer was a small cart mounted on two wheels of specially selected diameter. The wheels turned exactly 400 times per milliatri (an ancient measure of length equal to 1598 m). Numerous wheels and axles were driven by gears, and the distance traveled was indicated by pebbles falling into a special tray. In order to find out how much distance was covered, all that was needed was to count the number of pebbles in the tray.
One of Heron’s most interesting works is “Pneumatics”. The book contains descriptions of about 80 devices and mechanisms. The most famous is the aeolipile (translated from Greek: “ball of the wind god Aeolus”).
Rice. Aeolipile
The aeolipile was a tightly sealed cauldron with two pipes on the lid. A rotating hollow ball was installed on the tubes, on the surface of which two L-shaped nozzles were installed. Water was poured into the boiler through the hole, the hole was closed with a stopper, and the boiler was placed over the fire. The water boiled, steam was formed, which flowed through the tubes into the ball and into the L-shaped pipes. With sufficient pressure, jets of steam escaping from the nozzles quickly rotated the ball. Built by modern scientists according to Heron's drawings, the aeolipile developed up to 3500 revolutions per minute!
Unfortunately, the aeolipile did not receive due recognition and was not in demand either in the era of antiquity or later, although it made a huge impression on everyone who saw it. Heron's aeolipile is the prototype of steam turbines, which appeared only two millennia later! Moreover, aeolipile can be considered one of the first jet engines. There was one step left before the discovery of the principle of jet propulsion: having an experimental setup in front of us, it was necessary to formulate the principle itself. Humanity spent almost 2000 years on this step. It is difficult to imagine what human history would have looked like if the principle of jet propulsion had become widespread 2000 years ago.
Another outstanding invention of Heron related to the use of steam is the steam boiler.
The design was a large bronze container with a coaxially installed cylinder, a brazier and pipes for supplying cold and removing hot water. The boiler was very economical and provided rapid heating of water.
A significant part of Heron’s “Pneumatics” is occupied by a description of various siphons and vessels from which water flows by gravity through a tube. The principle inherent in these designs is successfully used by modern drivers when it is necessary to drain gasoline from a car tank. To create divine miracles, the priests had to use the mind and scientific knowledge of Heron. One of the most impressive miracles was the mechanism he developed that opened the doors to the temple when a fire was lit on the altar.
Air heated from the fire entered a vessel with water and squeezed out a certain amount of water into a barrel suspended on a rope. The barrel, filling with water, fell down and, with the help of a rope, rotated the cylinders, which set the swing doors in motion. The doors opened. When the fire went out, the water from the barrel poured back into the vessel, and a counterweight suspended on a rope, rotating the cylinders, closed the doors.
Quite a simple mechanism, but what a psychological effect on parishioners!
Another invention that significantly increased the profitability of ancient temples was the holy water vending machine invented by Heron.
The internal mechanism of the device was quite simple, and consisted of a precisely balanced lever operating a valve that opened under the influence of the weight of a coin. The coin fell through a slot onto a small tray and activated a lever and valve. The valve opened and some water flowed out. The coin would then slide off the tray and the lever would return to its original position, closing the valve.
This invention of Heron became the world's first vending machine. At the end of the 19th century, vending machines were reinvented.
Heron's next invention was also actively used in temples.
The invention consists of two vessels connected by a tube. One of the vessels was filled with water, and the second with wine. The parishioner added a small amount of water to a vessel with water, the water entered another vessel and displaced an equal amount of wine from it. A man brought water, and “by the will of the gods” it turned into wine! Isn't this a miracle?
And here is another vessel design invented by Heron for converting water into wine and back.
Half of the amphora is filled with wine, and the other half with water. Then the neck of the amphora is closed with a stopper. The liquid is extracted using a tap located at the bottom of the amphora. In the upper part of the vessel, under the protruding handles, two holes are drilled: one in the “wine” part, and the second in the “water” part. The cup was brought to the tap, the priest opened it and poured either wine or water into the cup, quietly plugging one of the holes with his finger.
A unique invention for its time was a water pump, the design of which was described by Heron in his work “Pneumatics”.
The pump consisted of two communicating piston cylinders equipped with valves from which water was alternately displaced. The pump was driven by the muscular power of two people, who took turns pressing the arms of the lever. It is known that pumps of this type were subsequently used by the Romans to extinguish fires and were distinguished by high quality workmanship and amazingly precise fit of all parts.
The most common method of lighting in ancient times was lighting using oil lamps. If with one lamp it was easy to keep track of it, then with several lamps there was already a need for a servant who would regularly walk around the room and adjust the wicks in the lamps. Heron invented an automatic oil lamp.
The lamp consists of a bowl into which oil was poured and a device for feeding the wick. This device contained a float and a gear connected to it. When the oil level dropped, the float dropped, rotated the gear, and it, in turn, fed a thin rail wrapped with a wick into the combustion zone. This invention was one of the first uses of a rack and pinion gear.
Heron’s “Pneumatics” also provides a description of the design of the syringe. Unfortunately, it is not known for sure whether this device was used for medical purposes in antiquity. It is also unknown whether the Frenchman Charles Pravaz and the Scotsman Alexander Wood, who are considered the inventors of the modern medical syringe, knew about its existence.
Heron's Fountain consists of three vessels, placed one above the other and communicating with each other. The two lower vessels are closed, and the upper one has the shape of an open bowl into which water is poured. Water is also poured into the middle vessel, which is later closed. Through a tube running from the bottom of the bowl almost to the bottom of the lower vessel, water flows down from the bowl and, compressing the air there, increases its elasticity. The lower vessel is connected to the middle one through a tube through which air pressure is transmitted to the middle vessel. By exerting pressure on the water, the air forces it to rise from the middle vessel through the tube into the upper bowl, where a fountain emerges from the end of this tube, rising above the surface of the water. The fountain water falling into the bowl flows from it through a tube into the lower vessel, where the water level gradually rises, and the water level in the middle vessel decreases. Soon the fountain stops working. To start it again, you just need to swap the lower and middle vessels.
A unique scientific work for its time is Heron's Mechanics. This book has come to us in the translation of an Arab scholar of the 9th century AD. Costa al-Balbaki. Until the 19th century, this book was not published anywhere and was apparently unknown to science either during the Middle Ages or during the Renaissance. This is confirmed by the absence of lists of its text in the original Greek and in the Latin translation. In Mechanics, in addition to describing the simplest mechanisms: wedge, lever, gate, block, screw, we find a mechanism created by Heron for lifting loads.
In the book this mechanism appears under the name barulk. It can be seen that this device is nothing more than a gearbox, which is used as a winch.
Heron dedicated his works “On Military Machines” and “On the Manufacturing of Throwing Machines” to the basics of artillery and described in them several designs of crossbows, catapults, and ballistae.
Heron's work On Automata was popular during the Renaissance and was translated into Latin and cited by many scientists of the time. In particular, in 1501 Giorgio Valla translated some fragments of this work. Later translations followed by other authors.
The organ created by Heron was not original, but was only an improved design of the hydraulos, a musical instrument invented by Ctesibius. Hydraulos was a set of pipes with valves that created sound. Air was supplied to the pipes using a water tank and a pump, which created the necessary pressure in this tank. The valves of the pipes, as in a modern organ, were controlled using a keyboard. Heron proposed to automate the hydraulic system using a wind wheel, which served as a drive for a pump that forced air into the reservoir.
It is known that Heron created a kind of puppet theater, which moved on wheels hidden from the audience and was a small architectural structure - four columns with a common base and architrave. The puppets on his stage, driven by a complex system of cords and gears, also hidden from public view, reenacted the ceremony of the festival in honor of Dionysus. As soon as such a theater entered the city square, a fire flared up on its stage above the figure of Dionysus, wine poured from a bowl onto the panther lying at the feet of the deity, and the retinue began to dance to the music. Then the music and dancing stopped, Dionysus turned in the other direction, a flame flared up in the second altar - and the whole action was repeated all over again. After such a performance, the dolls stopped and the performance ended. This action invariably aroused interest among all residents, regardless of age. But the street performances of another puppet theater, Heron, were no less successful.
This theater (pinaka) was very small in size, it was easily moved from place to place. It was a small column, at the top of which there was a model of a theater stage hidden behind the doors. They opened and closed five times, dividing into acts the drama of the sad return of the victors of Troy. On a tiny stage, with exceptional skill, it was shown how warriors built and launched sailing ships, sailed on them on a stormy sea and died in the abyss under the flash of lightning and thunder. To simulate thunder, Heron created a special device in which balls spilled out of a box and hit a board.
In his automatic theaters, Heron, in fact, used elements of programming: the actions of the machines were performed in strict sequence, the scenery replaced each other at the right moments. It is noteworthy that the main driving force that set the theater's mechanisms in motion was gravity (the energy of falling bodies was used); elements of pneumatics and hydraulics were also used.
The diopter was the prototype of the modern theodolite. Its main part was a ruler with sights attached to its ends. This ruler rotated in a circle, which could occupy both horizontal and vertical positions, which made it possible to mark directions in both the horizontal and vertical planes. To ensure correct installation of the device, a plumb line and level were attached to it. Using this device and introducing rectangular coordinates, Heron could solve various problems on the ground: measure the distance between two points when one or both of them are inaccessible to the observer, draw a straight line perpendicular to an inaccessible straight line, find the level difference between two points, measure the area of a simple figure without even stepping onto the area being measured.
Even in the time of Heron, the water supply system on the island of Samos, created according to the design of Eupalinus and passing through a tunnel, was considered one of the masterpieces of ancient engineering. Water through this tunnel was supplied to the city from a source located on the other side of Mount Castro. It was known that in order to speed up the work, the tunnel was dug simultaneously on both sides of the mountain, which required high qualifications from the engineer in charge of the construction. The water pipeline operated for many centuries and surprised Heron’s contemporaries; Herodotus also mentioned it in his writings. It was from Herodotus that the modern world learned about the existence of the Eupalina tunnel. I found out, but didn’t believe it, because it was believed that the ancient Greeks did not have the necessary technology to build such a complex object. Having studied Heron’s work “On the Diopter”, found in 1814, scientists received the second documentary evidence of the existence of the tunnel. It was only at the end of the 19th century that a German archaeological expedition actually discovered the legendary Eupalina Tunnel.
This is how in his work Heron gives an example of using the diopter he invented to build the Eupalina tunnel.