Hero of Alexandria

Hero (or Heron) of Alexandria (roughly A.D. 10 to roughly A.D. 70) was a Greek engineer and geometer. His most famous invention was the first documented steam engine, the aeolipile. He is said to have been a follower of the Atomists. Some of his ideas were derived from the works of Ctesibius.

A number of references mention dates around 150 BC, but these are inconsistent with the dates of his publications and inventions. Perhaps this is due to a misinterpretation of the phrase "first century".

Table of contents

1 Publications
2 Projects
3 References

Publications

The complete surviving works are:

Pneumatica (Greek, c. A.D. 60)
Automata (Greek)
Mechanics (Arabic)
Metrics (Arabic)
Dioptra (Arabic)

In optics, Hero proposed that light travels along the shortest geometric path. This view is no longer accepted, having been replaced by the least-time principle.

In geometry, he stated and proved a formula, now known as Heron's formula, for calculating the area of a triangle in terms of its sides.

Projects

compressed-air fountain
siphons
automated puppets
machine for threading wooden screws
steam turbine (A.D. 50/62/70) (aeolipile)
density of air
water organ or hydraulic organ
odometer

References

The Technology Museum of Thessaloniki has a good web page on Hero at http://www.tmth.edu.gr/en/aet/5/55.html.