The Palatinus
The list of the 7 wonders of the world comes from a certain Philon de Bysance, a personage of which we know relatively little that lived between the 3rd and 2nd century BC. He is the author of a document known today as the Palatinus , a 10th century document reproducing his text and which served as a basis for our knowledge of these 7 monuments of the ancient world. The Palatinus , therefore, is the reference document of the seven wonders of the ancient world. This document was written in Punic, an ancient language lost today.
This document has, of course, a great historical value, it still exists and is in the library of the University of Heidelberg, Germany. It is there because it was the first Western organization that recovered it after its discovery in a monastery of Mount Athos, in the fourteenth century. This document was attested in this monastery from the tenth century, but it is not known where it came from before. After recovering it, it was put in safe place but abandoned during the war of religion, when when Catholics took the city. The document was transported to the Vatican and then recovered by the French after the latter had defeat
The Automatic Servant of Philo (circa late 3rd century BC)
Philo of Byzantium (or Greek: Φίλων ὁ Βυζάντιος) was also known as Philo Mechanicus or Philon, and he was probably a Greek engineer, inventor and a writer from late 3rd century BC. Pertaining to the latter part, Philo compiled his large treatise known as Mechanike syntaxis (or Compendium of Mechanics) that can be majorly divided into nine book sections. Of these sections, book numbers 4 (on catapults), 5 (on pneumatics), 7 (on building fortresses) and 8 (on besieging and defending towns) have survived, while the others though lost, were thoroughly cross-referenced by the ancient author himself. Suffice it to say, the fascinating treatise offers glimpses into various types of contraptions, including what might be the world&#;s first water mill; a repeating crossbow mechanism; and even an eight-sided ink pot with its intrinsic supply mechanism. However the one that really stands out, relates to what is often touted as history&#;s first robot &#; the automatic servant of Philo.
Described in book number 5 &#; Pneumatica, the automaton in question entails a human-like robot in the form of a maid. To that end, &#;she&
In our modern lives, we take certain things for granted. It&#;s hard to image that at one time, inventions such as the water mill didn&#;t exist! Because of it, mankind was suddenly able to turn simple grains, such as wheat and rice, into an important staple food. Sure, it was possible to grind these grains to make flour before the invention of the water mill, but this simple invention made the whole process much easier.
Prior to inventing the first water mill, the Ancient Greeks and the Ancient Romans both invented the two major components of the mill, the waterwheel itself and the gearing that powered the waterwheel. However, it&#;s the Ancient Greeks alone that are credited with inventing the water mill itself. Here are some of the details of how the water mill was invented:
Perachora Wheel
The invention of the water mill started with the Perachora wheel, which used both the water wheel and the gear technology that had already been invented. It was invented in around the 3rd Century BC and Philo of Byzantium made the earliest known reference of it in his works, the Pneumatica and Parasceuastica. The mill used water to power the wheel, which eventually milled the grain
Philon of Byzantium
Heron of Alexandria mentions a work by Philon On automatic theatres which in fact forms part of his Mechanics treatise. Eutocius also mentions Philon and cites a work by him on the duplication of the cube and this material is again contained in his Mechanics treatise. Perhaps the most information about Philon's life, and this is very little indeed, comes from the only work of his which has survived (at least major parts have survived)Mechanics. In this treatise he writes about the catapult which was recently invented by Ctesibius, who we mentioned above as coming before Philon in the list of inventors given by Vitruvius. From this information we can date Philon fairly accurately and we know that he wr
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