Most people associate mechanical engineering with modernity, but this connection is far from the truth. The fact is that our ancestors used complex machines since the beginning of the Bronze Age.
With the help of innovative tools like the roller, wheel and lever, these ancient engineers were able to build huge monuments like the Pyramids of Giza, the Great Wall and the Gardens of Babylon.
But there is, above all, a culture whose contribution to technology, almost thousands of years before the industrial age, caused a technological revolution.
The ancient Greeks and Romans loved technology and developed knowledge from the most extraordinary inventions that enriched the classical world. These include gravity-driven aqueducts and centrifugal pumps.
However, there are a number of inventions that matured so early that they made us rethink the brilliance of their technical ability.
Some of these artifacts were rediscovered in ancient manuscripts, while others were raised from the bottom of the sea (after being lost for more than two thousand years).
These amazing machines were invented literally hundreds to thousands of years ahead of their time.
Promotional video:
Talos
While we may associate Talos with myth, this mechanical monster reminds us that robotics is not exclusively limited to the modern era.
The Greeks' fascination with machines dates back to ancient myth in which the god Hephaestus built many automata, such as mechanical maids and giant robot dogs.
Talos is best known as the revived bronze giant. It is said to have been installed by Zeus to defend Europe in Crete or given to Minos by Hephaestus. Talos circled the island three times a day, throwing stones at all approaching ships. One way or another, if someone landed on the shore, the giant heated up to incredible heat. If the attacker did not run away after that, then Talos burned him, embracing him.
Dove of Archites
After the decline of the Bronze Age, new engineers from Hellenistic Greece began experimenting with mechanical devices (possibly inspired by Hephaestus himself).
Architas, a Greek philosopher, was considered the father of mathematical mechanics. One of his most legendary inventions is the mechanical pigeon, allegedly powered by steam.
This story is reported by the second century Latin writer Auel Gellius in his Noct-Attica (10.12.8-10). The hidden flow of air within them sets them in motion:
“For not only many important Greeks, but also the philosopher Flavorinus, the most zealous researchers in the ancient archives, wrote in protest against the truth that a copy of a dove from wood was created by the Architians through mechanical dexterity and other arts; in fact, it was balanced and driven by the air flow trapped and hidden within."
Metal head
The strange and mysterious metal head is still in the realm of legend, but it is not really a myth. This device appeared in the 3rd century BC in connection with the Roman poet Virgil.
It was argued that this mechanical head could talk freely with its creator. Its creator is unknown, but its legend appears several times throughout history, including in connection with mystics such as Boethius (480-552 CE) and Albertus Magnus (1206-1280 CE).).
Antikythera Mechanism
The Antikythera mechanism is another great machine, the inventor of which also baffles us. This astronomical device was housed in a wooden box and consisted of 30 bronze gears (possibly more).
Turning the knob activated all the gears inward to calculate the position of the sun, moon phases, and possibly the positions of the planets. After being lost in a shipwreck, it took a thousand years for another rudimentary movement to be made.
After the publication of the first research results in 1955, Professor Price published in 1959 in the well-known scientific journal Scientific American the thesis that the Antikythera mechanism was a unique find that was technologically far ahead of its time. “In his publication Gears from the Greeks, Professor Price describes this sensation.
Apparently, the inventors of the mechanism could calculate the motion of five known planets, rises, phases of the moon, equinoxes or lunar cycles over a period of 18 years. In addition, the "computer" indicated twelve synodic lunar years.
Most surprising to this day is the fact that the inventor of this astronomical apparatus has already installed an epicyclic differential in almost 30 separate gears.
This gearbox, also known as a differential, is one of the most complex mechanical systems we know of - it was not registered until 1828 by [Onésiphore] Pecqueur.
Eolipile
The Herons Ball is a machine described by Heron of Alexandria that demonstrates the power of steam expansion and recoil. Eolipile was previously known to the ancient Egyptian priests.
The Herons Ball is a small rocket engine that is powered by steam. It is considered to be the first steam engine in history. If this prototype had been developed further, almost 2,000 years before the invention of the steam locomotive, the automobile would have become a reality much earlier.
The lower part of the machine is a dense kettle that can be heated from below with an open flame. Above is a ball that is rotatably mounted in a holder and attached to two outlet nozzles.
One of the two brackets serves as a tube through which water vapor can pass from the bottom to the top ball. Bringing water to a boil in the lower container, so the steam passes through the holder into the ball and exits through two nozzles. This creates a kickback that makes the ball spin.
Greek fire
Towards the end of the Roman Empire, new weapons emerged with enormous devastating consequences. The Byzantines perfected firearms that could project such intense flames of fire that literally burned entire ships to ashes within minutes.
This mysterious fire was said to be almost unquenchable (even if it was submerged in water). This gave the Byzantines technological leadership and was responsible for many important military victories. Its formula was a closely guarded state secret and is still unknown.
With a "siphon" is that of Ktesibios in the 3rd century BC. Chr., The invented double acting pressure pump (firing syringe) meant that under the condition of a constant flow of liquid. With this syringe, the flammable liquid was sprayed onto the target. The range was only a few meters, but sufficient for ancient naval battles.
There were different syringe systems:
The so-called siphon was used in naval battles by Byzantine warships - dromons. It is known that it was made of bronze, soldered with tin and fired from below. In addition, the nozzle is visible in the images. Most likely, the pressure vessel was connected to the packing through a valve. The overpressure in the tank may have been supported by a pump. Only two people served the weapons, the other crew members did not have the necessary training. Depending on their size, dromons were equipped with up to three siphons.
The picture of the so-called strepton shows that it is a hand-held device. It should preferably be used against wooden structures such as siege towers. The name implies that this is a device with some kind of pump or rotating mechanism.
The cheirosiphon (hand siphon) is a little more famous than what the name implies. It was to be used directly against enemy soldiers.
In addition, there was a more traditional method of firing clay cans filled with fire, with various centrifugal or catapult systems.
The invention of weapons is explained in sources by the Greek architect Callinicos, who fled from Heliopolis (now Lebanon) from the Arabs to Constantinople. Probably in 677, or shortly before, during the war with the Arabs, he managed to develop a Greek fire system for the dromon. This was of decisive importance in the fight against the Arab siege of Constantinople (674-678).
Already in late antiquity, both in the eastern Roman-Byzantine state and by opponents of Rome, firearms were constantly being developed. Thus, the corresponding predecessors, apparently, were used shortly after 500 under the emperor Anastasia I in the fight against the rebel Vitalian.
His significant innovation, which ultimately led to the Greek fire, was the siphon, in modern terminology, a kind of flamethrower. Even after Kallinikos, development continued. This is how Gandiffon and Strepton appeared in the late 9th or early 10th centuries.