Hero's Fountain, Hydraulics

Hero's Fountain, Hydraulics

Heron's fountain is a hydraulic machine invented by Hero of Alexandria. Heron studied the pressure of air and steam, described the first steam engine, and built toys that would spurt water, one of them known as Heron's fountain. Various versions of Heron's Fountain are used today in physics classes as a demonstration of principles of hydraulics and pneumatics. Illustration from Thomas Ewbank's Hydraulics (16th edition, 1876, figure 110). Hero of Alexandria (10-70 AD) was an ancient Greek mathematician and engineer from Alexandria, Roman Egypt. His work is representative of the Hellenistic scientific tradition and he is often called, the greatest experimenter of antiquity. Hero published a description of a steam-powered device called an aeolipile (rocket style jet engine which spins when heated). Among his most famous inventions was a windwheel, constituting the earliest instance of wind harnessing on land. He is said to have been a follower of the Atomists. Atomism is a natural philosophy. They theorized that the natural world consists of two fundamental parts: indivisible atoms and empty void. Much of Hero's original writings and designs have been lost, but some of his works were preserved in Arab manuscripts.

Album / Science Source / New York Public Library

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2700 x 5298 px | 40.9 MB

22.9 x 44.9 cm | 9.0 x 17.7 in (300 dpi)