The pneumatics of Hero of AlexandriaHero, of Alexandria
History
The pneumatics of Hero of Alexandria
Hero, of Alexandria
Discoveries in science -- History; Inventions -- History; Pneumatics
The same result can be brought about without the aid of a stream of
water in the following manner. Take once more a pedestal perfectly
air-tight, A B C D (fig. 79), having a partition across the middle,
E F. Let the tube from the mouth of the animal, G H K, lead into the
pedestal, and another tube, L M N, pass through the surface A D and
the partition E F. In the tube, L M N, perforate a hole, X, just above
the partition E F, and let another tube, O P, fit into it closely,
having a hole, R, corresponding with the hole X. To the tube O P
attach a figure of Pan, or some other figure with a fierce look, and,
when the figure is turned towards the animal, it shall not drink, as
though frightened; when the figure turns away, it shall drink. Now, if
we pour water into the compartment A D E F through a hole, G´, which
must afterwards be carefully closed with wax or some other substance,
it will be found that, if the holes R and X are made to coincide, the
water which was poured in will pass into the compartment E B C F. As A
D E F becomes empty, it will attract the air through the mouth of the
figure, which will then drink when a cup is presented to it.
[Illustration: Fig. 79.]
[Illustration: Decorative floral border]
APPENDIX.
There are four MSS. of Hero contained in the British Museum. Two belong
to the Harleian Collection: they are numbered 5605 and 5589, and are
assigned, the first to the fifteenth, the second to the sixteenth
century; they are distinguished in the table below by the letters _a_
and _b_. The others are among the Burney MSS., (108 and 81), and are
both assigned to the sixteenth century: they are cited as _c_ and _d_.
Of these MSS. the first and third, (_a_ and _c_), are by far the most
trustworthy: they generally supply the clauses missing in the printed
text, and often furnish emendations of passages otherwise corrupt.
The other two agree, for the most part, with each other, and with the
printed text, both in the omission of numerous clauses and in the
grossest errors in individual words. It is thus rendered probable that
the defects of the Paris edition are in great measure due, not to the
Editors, but to the MS. followed.
In the following table of emendations made in the text of Hero as it
appears in the _Veterum Mathematicorum Opera_, those only have been
noticed which appeared curious or important. Many more have been passed
over in which the correction was obvious even without the aid of any
MS. The references are to the page and line of the Paris edition.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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