Hero of Alexandria

Hero of Alexandria (/ˈhɪəroʊ/; Greek: Ἥρων[1] ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, Heron ho

Hero of Alexandria
Alexandreus; also known as Heron of Alexandria /ˈhɛrən/; c. 10 AD – c. 70
AD) was a mathematician and engineer who was active in his native city of
Alexandria, Roman Egypt. He is considered the greatest experimenter of
antiquity[2] and his work is representative of the Hellenistic scientific
tradition.[3]

Hero published a well-recognized description of a steam-powered device called

an aeolipile (sometimes called a "Hero engine"). Among his most famous
inventions was a windwheel, constituting the earliest instance of wind harnessing
on land.[4][5] He is said to have been a follower of the atomists. Some of his
ideas were derived from the works of Ctesibius.

Much of Hero's original writings and designs have been lost, but some of his
works were preserved - mostly in manuscripts from the Eastern Roman Empire,
and a smaller part in Latin or Arabic translations.

17th-century German depiction of

Contents Hero
Native name Ἥρων
Life and career
Born c. 10 AD
Inventions
Mathematics Died c. 70 AD
Cultural references Residence Alexandria, Roman
Bibliography Egypt
See also Known for Aeolipile
References Scientific career
Further reading Fields Mathematics ,
External links Physics

Life and career

Hero may have been either a Greek[2] or a Hellenized Egyptian.[6][7][8][9][10] It is almost certain that Hero taught at the Musaeum
which included the famous Library of Alexandria, because most of his writings appear as lecture notes for courses in
mathematics, mechanics, physics, and pneumatics. Although the field was not formalized until the twentieth century, it is thought
that the work of Hero, his automated devices in particular, represents some of the first formal research into cybernetics.[11]

Inventions
Hero described[12] the construction of the aeolipile (a version of which is known as Hero's engine) which was a rocket-like
reaction engine and the first-recorded steam engine (although Vitruvius mentioned the aeolipile in De Architectura some 100
years earlier than Hero). It was created almost two millennia before the industrial revolution. Another engine used air from a
closed chamber heated by an altar fire to displace water from a sealed vessel; the water was collected
and its weight, pulling on a rope, opened temple doors.[13] Some historians have conflated the two
inventions to assert that the aeolipile was capable of useful work.[14]

The first vending machine was also one of his constructions; when a coin was introduced
via a slot on the top of the machine, a set amount of holy water was dispensed. This was
included in his list of inventions in his book Mechanics and Optics. When the coin was
deposited, it fell upon a pan attached to a lever. The lever opened up a valve which let
some water flow out. The pan continued to tilt with the weight of the coin until it fell off, at
which point a counter-weight would snap the lever back up and turn off the valve.[15]
A windwheel operating an organ, marking the first instance in history of wind powering a Hero's aeolipile
machine.[4][5]
Hero also invented many mechanisms for the Greek theater, including
an entirely mechanical play almost ten minutes in length, powered by a
binary-like system of ropes, knots, and simple machines operated by a
rotating cylindrical cogwheel. The sound of thunder was produced by the
mechanically-timed dropping of metal balls onto a hidden drum.
The force pump was widely used in the Roman world, and one
application was in a fire-engine.
A syringe-like device was described by Hero to control the delivery of air
or liquids.[16]
In optics, Hero formulated the principle of the shortest path of light: If a
ray of light propagates from point A to point B within the same medium,
the path-length followed is the shortest possible. It was nearly 1000
years later that Alhacen expanded the principle to both reflection and
refraction, and the principle was later stated in this form by Pierre de
Fermat in 1662; the most modern form is that the path is at an Hero's wind-powered organ
extremum. (reconstruction)
A standalone fountain that operates under self-contained hydrostatic
energy (Hero's fountain)
A programmable cart that was powered by a falling weight. The "program" consisted of strings wrapped around
the drive axle.[17]

Mathematics
Hero described a method for iteratively computing the square root of a number.[18]Today, however, his name is most closely
associated with Hero's formula for finding the area of a triangle from its side lengths. He also devised a method for calculating
cube roots in the 1st century CE.[19]

Cultural references
A 1979 Soviet animated short film focuses on Hero's invention of the aeolipile, showing him as a plain craftsman
who invented the turbine accidentally[20]
A 2007 The History Channel television show Ancient Discoveries includes recreations of most of Hero's devices
A 2010 The History Channel television show Ancient Aliens episode "Alien Tech" includes discussion of Hero's
steam engine
A 2014 The History Channel television show Ancient Impossible episode "Ancient Einstein"
Paul Levinson's Science Fiction novel "The Plot to Save Socrates" asserts that Hero was an American time
traveler.

Bibliography
The most comprehensive edition of Hero's works was published in five volumes in Leipzig by the publishing house Teubner in
1903.

Works known to have been written by Hero:

 Pneumatica (Πνευματικά), a description of machines working on air,
steam or water pressure, including the hydraulis or water organ[21]
Automata, a description of machines which enable wonders in
temples by mechanical or pneumatical means (e.g. automatic
opening or closing of temple doors, statues that pour wine, etc.); See
Automaton and Bernardino Baldi's translation[22]
Mechanica, preserved only in Arabic, written for architects,
containing means to lift heavy objects
Metrica, a description of how to calculate surfaces and volumes of
diverse objects
On the Dioptra, a collection of methods to measure lengths, a work
in which the odometer and the dioptra, an apparatus which
resembles the theodolite, are described
Belopoeica, a description of war machines
Catoptrica, about the progression of light, reflection and the use of
mirrors
Works that sometimes have been attributed to Hero, but are now thought most
likely to have been written by someone else:[23]
The book About automata by Hero of
Geometrica, a collection of equations based on the first chapter of Alexandria (1589 edition)
Metrica
Stereometrica, examples of three-dimensional calculations based on
the second chapter of Metrica
Mensurae, tools which can be used to conduct measurements based on Stereometrica and Metrica
Cheiroballistra, about catapults
Definitiones, containing definitions of terms for geometry
Works that are preserved only in fragments:

Geodesia
Geoponica

See also
Heronian triangle
Heronian mean

References
1. Genitive: Ἥρωνος.
2. Research Machines plc. (2004). The Hutchinson dictionary of scientific biography. Abingdon, Oxon: Helicon
Publishing. p. 546. "Hero of Alexandria (lived c. AD 60) Greek mathematician and engineer, the greatest
experimentalist of antiquity"
3. Marie Boas, "Hero's Pneumatica: A Study of Its Transmission and Influence", Isis, Vol. 40, No. 1 (Feb., 1949), p.
38 and supra
4. A.G. Drachmann, "Heron's Windmill", Centaurus, 7 (1961), pp. 145–151
5. Dietrich Lohrmann, "Von der östlichen zur westlichen Windmühle", Archiv für Kulturgeschichte, Vol. 77, Issue 1
(1995), pp. 1–30 (10f.)
6. George Sarton (1936). "The Unity and Diversity of the Mediterranean World", Osiris 2, p. 406-463 [429]
7. John H. Lienhard (1995). "Hero of Alexandria" (http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1038.htm). The Engines of Our
Ingenuity. Episode 1038. NPR. KUHF-FM Houston.
8. T. D. De Marco (1974). "Gas-Turbine Standby-Power Generation for Water-Treatment Plants", Journal American
Water Works Association 66 (2), p. 133-138.
 9. Justin E. Wilson (2006). Heron’s Formula (http://education.uncc.edu/cmste/summer/2006%20History%20of%20
Mathematics/Justin1.doc) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20090326201121/http://education.uncc.edu/cms
te/summer/2006%20History%20of%20Mathematics/Justin1.doc) 2009-03-26 at the Wayback Machine, University
of North Carolina at Charlotte.
10. Victor J. Katz (1998). A History of Mathematics: An Introduction, p. 184. Addison Wesley, ISBN 0-321-01618-1:
"But what we really want to know is to what extent the Alexandrian mathematicians of the period from the first to
the fifth centuries C.E. were Greek. Certainly, all of them wrote in Greek and were part of the Greek intellectual
community of Alexandria. And most modern studies conclude that the Greek community coexisted [...] So should
we assume that Ptolemy and Diophantus, Pappus and Hypatia were ethnically Greek, that their ancestors had
come from Greece at some point in the past but had remained effectively isolated from the Egyptians? It is, of
course, impossible to answer this question definitively. But research in papyri dating from the early centuries of
the common era demonstrates that a significant amount of intermarriage took place between the Greek and
Egyptian communities [...] And it is known that Greek marriage contracts increasingly came to resemble Egyptian
ones. In addition, even from the founding of Alexandria, small numbers of Egyptians were admitted to the
privileged classes in the city to fulfill numerous civic roles. Of course, it was essential in such cases for the
Egyptians to become "Hellenized," to adopt Greek habits and the Greek language. Given that the Alexandrian
mathematicians mentioned here were active several hundred years after the founding of the city, it would seem at
least equally possible that they were ethnically Egyptian as that they remained ethnically Greek. In any case, it is
unreasonable to portray them with purely European features when no physical descriptions exist."
11. Kelly, Kevin (1994). Out of control: the new biology of machines, social systems and the economic world. Boston:
Addison-Wesley. ISBN 0-201-48340-8.
12. Hero (1899). "Pneumatika, Book ΙΙ, Chapter XI". Herons von Alexandria Druckwerke und Automatentheater (http
s://archive.org/stream/heronsvonalexandhero#page/228/mode/2up) (in Greek and German). Wilhelm Schmidt
(translator). Leipzig: B.G. Teubner. pp. 228–232.
13. Hero of Alexandria (1851). "Temple Doors opened by Fire on an Altar" (https://web.archive.org/web/2008050912
2356/http://www.history.rochester.edu/steam/hero/section37.html). Pneumatics of Hero of Alexandria. Bennet
Woodcroft (trans.). London: Taylor Walton and Maberly (online edition from University of Rochester, Rochester,
NY). Archived from the original (http://www.history.rochester.edu/steam/hero/section37.html) on 2008-05-09.
Retrieved 2008-04-23.
14. For example: Mokyr, Joel (2001). Twenty-five centuries of technological change. London: Routledge. p. 11.
ISBN 0-415-26931-8. "Among the devices credited to Hero are the aeolipile, a working steam engine used to
open temple doors" and Wood, Chris M.; McDonald, D. Gordon (1997). "History of propulsion devices and turbo
machines". Global Warming. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. p. 3. ISBN 0-521-49532-6. "Two
exhaust nozzles...were used to direct the steam with high velocity and rotate the sphere...By attaching ropes to
the axial shaft Hero used the developed power to perform tasks such as opening temple doors"
15. Humphrey, John W.; John P. Oleson; Andrew N. Sherwood (1998). Greek and Roman technology: A Sourcebook.
Annotated translations of Greek and Latin texts and documents. Routledge Sourcebooks for the Ancient World.
London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-06137-7., pp. 66–67
16. Woodcroft, Bennet (1851). The Pneumatics of Hero of Alexandria (https://web.archive.org/web/19970629025336/
http://www.history.rochester.edu/steam/hero/section57.html). London: Taylor Walton and Maberly. Archived from
the original (http://www.history.rochester.edu/steam/hero/section57.html) on 1997-06-29. Retrieved January 27,
2010. "No. 57. Description of a Syringe"
17. Noel Sharkey (July 4, 2007), A programmable robot from AD 60 (https://www.newscientist.com/blog/technolo
gy/2007/07/programmable-robot-from-60ad.html), 2611, New Scientist
The above citation embeds a video using Flash Player, which fewer devices support over time. The same
video is also available at this URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyQIo9iS_z0
18. Heath, Thomas (1921). A History of Greek Mathematics, Vol. 2 (https://books.google.com/books?id=LOA5AAAA
MAAJ&pg=PR323). Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 323–324.
19. Smyly, J. Gilbart (1920). "Heron's Formula for Cube Root". Hermathena. Trinity College Dublin. 19 (42): 64–67.
JSTOR 23037103 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/23037103).
20. "Russian animation in letters and figures | Films | «GERON»" (http://animator.ru/db/?ver=eng&p=show_film&fid=
4676). animator.ru.
21. Jamies W. McKinnon. "Hero of Alexandria and Hydraulis". In Deane L. Root (ed.). Grove Music Online. Oxford
Music Online. Oxford University Press. (subscription required)
22. De gli automati, overo machine se moventi, Volume 2 (https://books.google.com/books?id=8EI8AAAAcAAJ)
(Venice, 1589; repr. 1601), On Automaton; translated from the Greek.
23. O'Connor, J.J. & E.F. Robertson. "Heron biography" (http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/Biographie
s/Heron.html). The MacTutor History of Mathematics archive. Retrieved 2006-06-18.

Further reading
Drachmann, Aage Gerhardt (1963). The Mechanical Technology of Greek and Roman Antiquity: A Study of the
Literary Sources. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.
Landels, J.G. (2000). Engineering in the ancient world (2nd ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-
520-22782-4.
Marsden, E.W. (1969). Greek and Roman Artillery: Technical Treatises. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Schellenberg, H.M.: Anmerkungen zu Hero von Alexandria und seinem Werk über den Geschützbau, in:
Schellenberg, H.M./ Hirschmann, V.E./ Krieckhaus, A.(edd.): A Roman Miscellany. Essays in Honour of Anthony
R. Birley on his Seventieth Birthday, Gdansk 2008, 92-130 (with a huge bibliography of over 300 titles and
discussion of the communis opinio on Hero).

External links
Webpage about Hero by The Technology Museum of Thessaloniki (https://web.archive.org/web/2007090512540
0/http://www.tmth.edu.gr/en/aet/5/55.html)
A translation of Pneumatica with diagrams (http://himedo.net/TheHopkinThomasProject/TimeLine/Wales/Steam/
URochesterCollection/Hero/index-2.html)
Heron biography, The MacTutor History of Mathematics archive (http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biogra
phies/Heron.html)
Hero of Alexandria (https://archive.org/stream/encyclopaediabrit13chisrich#page/378/mode/1up) in the 1911
Encyclopædia Britannica
Heron of Alexandria (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/263417/Heron-of-Alexandria) in online
Encyclopædia Britannica
Online Galleries, History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries (https://web.archive.org/all/201
21116161839/http://hos.ou.edu/galleries/01Ancient/HeroOfAlexandria/1575) High resolution images preserved at
The Internet Archive
"Hero of Alexandria" (https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_New_International_Encyclop%C3%A6dia/Hero_of_Al
exandria). New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
Reconstruction of Heron’s Formulas for Calculating the Volume of Vessels (http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/prop
ylaeumdok/volltexte/2010/564/pdf/11_14_vodolazhskaya_calculation.pdf)
Spiritali di Herone Alessandrino (http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.rbc/Batchelder.32533.1) From the John Davis Batchelder
Collection (https://www.loc.gov/rr/rarebook/coll/024.html) at the Library of Congress
The Pneumatics of Hero of Alexandria, from the Original Greek. Tr. and ed. by Bennet Woodcroft (http://hdl.loc.g
ov/loc.rbc/general.41532.1) From the Collections at the Library of Congress

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