Video: TOP-10 ancient Greek inventions
2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55
What's the first thing that comes to mind when it comes to ancient Greece? Culture and mythology, literature, philosophy, mathematical theorems, the Olympic Games, sculptures of athletes and gods from snow-white marble … But we often forget about the incredible technological achievements of the Greek civilization, in many ways ahead of their era. And there were quite a few of them.
The inventions of the ancient Greeks affected the most diverse aspects of life - both everyday life and military operations. Ancient Greek flamethrower? Automatic maid? Why not! Even thousands of years ago, talented inventors could only be limited by the power of their imaginations.
1) Antikythera mechanism- a device created around 150 BC, which can be called the world's first computer. The movement consisted of 37 bronze gears in a wooden case, on which the dials were placed.
It made it possible to carry out a lot of complex astronomical calculations, including determining the phases of the moon, solar eclipses and the movement of all planets known to the Greeks.
2) Flamethrower - The Greeks loved not only to fight, but also to create mechanisms for war. The first flamethrower machine was used during the Peloponnesian War (431 - 404 BC) and dropped burning coals in half with sulfur on the enemy.
Another flamethrower was invented by Apollodorus of Damascus, an engineer in the 2nd century AD. This device was intended to destroy the fortress walls using a combination of flame and powerful acid.
3) Steam cannon - one of the military inventions of Archimedes, when he helped defend his native Syracuse from the Romans during the second Punic War.
In fact, it was a metal pipe, sealed at one end, which was heated and filled with a small amount of water. The resulting steam abruptly pushed the projectile out of a kind of cannon to a distance of up to a kilometer.
4) "Claw" of Archimedes - Another combat vehicle used against the Roman fleet during the siege of Syracuse.
It was a crane attached to the city wall, equipped with a chain with a hook at one end and a counterweight at the other. The hook clung to the enemy ship and turned it over, or dragged it onto the coastal rocks.
5) Vaginal dilators - these medical gynecological instruments from the 2nd century BC were found during the excavations of Dion at the base of Olympus.
This finding only confirms how advanced medicine was in ancient Greece - they also used scalpels, forceps, drills and catheters.
6) The Automaton Maid - invention of Philo of Byzantium, mechanic of the 3rd century BC. This miracle of ancient Greek robotics was intended for a completely logical purpose - she filled a cup with wine, then mixed it with water.
The supply of liquids came from two containers with tubes placed inside the mechanism.
7) Piston pump - the brainchild of the brilliant engineer Ctesibius of Alexandria, who lived in the 3rd century BC. The pump was used to lift water from wells using the basic principles of pneumatics and hydraulics.
Unfortunately, all the works of Ctesibius burned down during a fire in the Library of Alexandria, and we know about them only from the mentions of other inventors.
8) Hydraulic body, he is also hydravlos - another invention of Ktesibius, who adored music.
Hydravlos worked with two piston pumps and produced an incredibly clear sound for its time. It later became the prototype for modern organs.
9) Eolipil - steam turbine, created by Heron of Alexandria - one of the largest inventors of the beginning of our era.
It was a ball with bent tubes, suspended above a boiler with water, rotating under the action of steam jet thrust. Heron used this principle for other inventions - his famous dancing figurines and his automatic miniature theater.
10) Eupalin Aqueduct - large-scale underground tunnels for storing water, dug on the island of Samos in the 6th century BC. by order of the tyrant Polycrates.
The aqueduct was created based on stunningly accurate geometric calculations, unraveled only by Euclid three hundred years later. Herodotus in his writings called the tunnels one of the wonders of the world.
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