The Pneumatics of Hero of Alexandria (1851)
thehopkinthomasproject.com51 points by gregsadetsky 6 days ago
51 points by gregsadetsky 6 days ago
Today I learned that diabetes is the greek word for siphon.
I absolutely love stuff like this. It is truly incredible what people were able to build so long ago. I always enjoy hearing their thought process and some of the strange stuff they came up with. "A bird made to whistle by flowing water" for instance, is something that I don't think would ever have popped into my mind.
Very cool, but the images are too pixelated. Project Gutenberg to the rescue:
https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/77400/pg77400-images.ht...
This is an awesome resource. I have always wanted to try building every one of Hero's known inventions because with modern technology most are quite simply constructed (compared to extremely precise machines brass contraptions such as the Antikythera Mechanism) but incredibly elegant in their operation. I think it would be a very fun project
I have had similar impulses over the years, and I am currently applying myself to learning the fundamentals of pinball mechanisms.
It is so satisfying to wind ones own servo and use it for different purposes.
There's a whole world of things to start building if you start with a generalized interest of first principles in a subject.
These pneumatics have got me seriously wondering about building a pneumatic pinball machine using the same principles ..
I'm a chemical engineer and I've worked in some old plants. Before modern electronic control, everything was controlled by pneumatics. A control loop would literally be something like a pressure gauge connected to an air valve, so that when pressure increased the air flow would change and proportionately close off another valve upstream, and when it would decrease, the air would open the valve up. There were also complex logic circuits set up this way entirely with air pressure. Really amazing stuff when you can look at the control panels because operators were opening and closing air valves to control everything and it works just like an analogue circuit, but it's all air pressure instead of voltage and air lines instead of wires.
The HVAC in my work building (which is absolutely terrible) is controlled by pneumatic air pressure to each thermostat and to a valve controlling hot water flow in the air vent path.
Oh that is indeed fascinating!
Especially when you consider that it is these kinds of forces at work, at a different scale and medium, anyway.
I think some kind of combined water/air pinball machine could be constructed, with the right balance in choice of materials for the ball, it could result in a playable pneumatic pinball mechanism.
It's just a matter of leverage. ;)
I think you'd really only need pneumatics/hydraulics for the scoring and any special effects. You can accomplish ball launches and paddles completely with basic mechanical parts. For example, you could have the score be represented by a water reservoir filling up and score events could just open the valve to fill. Ball counter could also be completely mechanical.
I've thought about doing something similar before!
For the Antikythera Mechanism, you might enjoy this video of someone re-creating it (with a few improvements).
https://youtu.be/mTsCx0E7YkA?si=X6X33n96Y9usI6DO
Clickspring on YouTube also has a series dedicated to a reconstruction of the mechanism. Both are fantastic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRXI9KLImC4&list=PLZioPDnFPN...
This seems fascinating, and I am only sad I haven't the time to actually get into a full treatise like that. The style of writing - at least initially - is quite approachable, even if the sentences tend to run on a bit.
Not much is sweeter than the insight of the "antient philosophers and mechanicians" :-)