BIG DREAM Hobby and Craft: Why Heron's Aeolipile Is One of History's Greatest Forgotten Machines

Minggu, 29 November 2020

Why Heron's Aeolipile Is One of History's Greatest Forgotten Machines

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Why Heron's Aeolipile Is One of History's Greatest Forgotten Machines

Nearly 1,800 years before the start of the Industrial Revolution, an ancient engineer by the name of Heron created the world's first steam engine.

BY: ADDISON NUGENT

In 62 A.D., the Roman Empire's cultural capital of Alexandria, hugging the northern shore of Egypt, was a tide pool of new religions.

Nearly half-a-century after the reign of Caesar Augustus, the Empire was approaching its historical high water mark and new religious influences began to trickle in across its 2.2 million-square-mile expanse. The city quickly sprouted new mystery cults, practiced new forms of worship, and even created whole new gods from the melting pot of Roman, Greek, and Egyptian influences.

And with so many temples claiming to have divine answers, competition for followers was stiff. To stand out, priests turned to Heron—also known as Mechanikos, meaning "machine man"— to engineer celestial phenomena.

But the Greek wunderkind didn't rely on the favor of his pantheon of gods to create the impossible, instead he used science and engineering that wouldn't be seen again for more than a millennium.

In these ancient temples, Heron used hydraulic and steam power to create singing birds, bursts of flame, and moving statues in the hopes of inspiring awe—and devotion—into would-be disciples.

And in the process of manufacturing these man-made miracles, Heron invented something that would change the world—the aeolipile, otherwise known as the world's first steam engine.

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