Phoenician mythology

Philo of Byzantium

3rd century BCE Greek engineer, physicist and writer

Philo of Byzantium
Φίλων ὁ Βυζάντιος

Bornc. BC

Byzantium

Diedc.

  • Philo of byzantium biography of albert lea
  • Philo of byzantium biography of albert camus
  • Philo of byzantium biography of albert king

    • BCE

    Occupations

    Philo of Byzantium[a] (Ancient Greek: Φίλων ὁ Βυζάντιος, Phílōn ho Byzántios, c.&#; BC&#;– c.&#; BC), also known as Philo Mechanicus (Latin for "Philo the Engineer"), was a Greek engineer, physicist and writer on mechanics, who lived during the latter half of the 3rd century BC.

    Although he was from Byzantium he lived most of his life in Alexandria, Egypt. He was probably younger than Ctesibius, though some place him a century earlier.

    Works

    Philo was the author of a large work, the Syntaxis (Μηχανική Σύνταξη, Mēkhanikḗ Sýntaxē),[b] which contained the following sections:[1]

    • Isagoge (Εἰσαγωγή, Eisagōgḗ) – Introduction (general mathematics)
    • Mochlica (Μοχλικά, Mokhliká) – Leverage (mechanics)
    • Limenopoeica (Λιμενοποιικά, Limenopoiiká) – Harbour Construction
    • Belopoeica (Βελοποιικά, Belopoiiká) – Siege Engine Construction
    • Pneumatica (Πνευματικά, Pneumatiká) – Pneumatics
    • Automatopoeica (Αὐτοματοποιητικά, Automatopoiētiká) – Automatons (mechanical toys and diversions)
    • Parasceuastica (Παρασκευαστικά, Paraskeuastiká) – Preparations (for sieges)[c]
    • Poliorcetica (Πολιορκητικά, Poliorkētiká) – Siegecraft
    • Peri Epistolon (Περὶ Ἐπιστολῶν, Perì Epistolō̂n) – On Letters (coding and hidden letters for military use)

    The military sections Belopoeica and Poliorcetica are extant in Greek, detailing missiles, the construction of fortresses, provisioning, attack and defence, as are fragments of Isagoge and Automatopoeica (ed.

    R. Schone, , with German translation in Hermann August Theodor Köchly's Griechische Kriegsschriftsteller, vol. i.

    Philo of byzantium biography of albert Although he was from Byzantium he lived most of his life in Alexandria , Egypt. He was probably younger than Ctesibius , though some place him a century earlier. The military sections Belopoeica and Poliorcetica are extant in Greek, detailing missiles, the construction of fortresses, provisioning, attack and defence, as are fragments of Isagoge and Automatopoeica ed. Rochas d'Aiglun, Poliorcetique des Grecs , Another portion of the work, on pneumatic engines, has been preserved in the form of a Latin translation De Ingeniis Spiritualibus of an Arabic translation ed.

    ; E. A. Rochas d'Aiglun, Poliorcetique des Grecs, ).

    Another portion of the work, on pneumatic engines, has been preserved in the form of a Latin translation (De Ingeniis Spiritualibus) of an Arabic translation (ed. W. Schmidt, with German translation, in the works of Heron of Alexandria, vol. i., in the Teubner series, ; with French translation by Rochas, La Science des philosophes dans l'antiquité, ).

    Biography of albert einstein W hat little is known of Philon suggests that he was a relatively wealthy man who helped design and construct a large number of machines. Most of these machines seem to have been designed to help fight and win battles, and many of his designs are described in his treatise, Mechanics. Virtually nothing is known of Philon's life and, in particular, his early life is apparently lost to history. However, the devices he helped to invent or to make useful were considered sufficiently important that, even a few centuries later, Roman architect and engineer Vitruvius first century b. Philon's lived after the great flowering of Greek science and philosophy that reached its peak during the fourth and fifth centuries b.

    Further portions probably survive in a derivative form, incorporated into the works of Vitruvius and of Arabic authors.

    The Philo line, a geometric construction that can be used to double the cube, is attributed to Philo.

    Devices

    According to recent research, a section of Philo's Pneumatics which so far has been regarded as a later Arabic interpolation, includes the first description of a water mill in history,[2] placing the invention of the water mill in the mid-third century BC by the Greeks.[3]

    Philo's works also contain the oldest known application of a chain drive in a repeating crossbow.

    Two flat-linked chains were connected to a windlass, which by winding back and forth would automatically fire the machine's arrows until its magazine was empty.[4]

    Philo also was the first to describe a gimbal: an eight-sided ink pot that could be turned any way without spilling and expose the ink on top.

    Philo of byzantium biography of albert hall

    He was probably younger than Ctesibius, though some place him a century earlier. Philon was the author of a large work, Mechanike syntaxis Compendium of Mechanics , which contained the following sections:. The military sections Belopoeica and Poliorcetica are extant in Greek, detailing missiles, the construction of fortresses, provisioning, attack and defence, as are fragments of Isagoge and Automatiopoeica ed. Rochas d'Aiglun, Poliorcetique des Grecs, Another portion of the work, on pneumatic engines, has been preserved in the form of a Latin translation De ingeniis spiritualibus made from an Arabic version ed.

    This was done by the suspension of the inkwell at the centre, which was mounted on a series of concentric metal rings which remained stationary no matter which way the pot turns.[5]

    In his Pneumatics (chapter 31) Philo describes an escapement mechanism, the earliest known, as part of a washstand.[6] A counterweighted spoon, supplied by a water tank, tips over in a basin when full releasing a pumice in the process.

    Once the spoon has emptied, it is pulled up again by the counterweight, closing the door on the pumice by the tightening string. Remarkably, Philo's comment that "its construction is similar to that of clocks" indicates that such escapements mechanism were already integrated in ancient water clocks.[6]

    He is also credited with the construction of the first thermoscope (or Philo thermometer), an early version of the thermometer.[7]

    Mathematics

    In mathematics, Philo tackled the problem of doubling the cube.

    The doubling of the cube was necessitated by the following problem: given a catapult, construct a second catapult that is capable of firing a projectile twice as heavy as the projectile of the first catapult. His solution was to find the point of intersection of a rectangular hyperbola and a circle, a solution that is similar to the solution given by Hero of Alexandria several centuries later.

    Apocrypha

    A treatise titled "Seven Wonders of the World" (Περὶ τῶν Ἑπτὰ Θεαμάτων, Perì tō̂n Heptà Theamátōn)[d] is sometimes attributed to this Philo but more probably belongs to a different Philo of Byzantium, distinguished as Philo the Paradoxographer, who lived in a much later date, probably the 4th–5th century AD.[8][9] It is printed in R.

    Hercher's edition of Aelian (Paris: Firmin Didot, ); an English translation by Jean Blackwood is included as an appendix in The Seven Wonders of the World by Michael Ashley (Glasgow: Fontana Paperbacks, ).

    Philo of byzantium biography of albert einstein Vitruvius includes him, with Archytas, Archimedes, Ctesibius, and others, in a list of inventors, 1 while Hero of Alexandria mentions a work on an automatic theater by him 2 and Eutocius cites his work on the duplication of the cube. Form reference to the bronze-spring catapult, recently invented by Ctesibius fl. It is also clear that Philo was able to travel to Rhodes and Alexandria to study catapults, which suggests that he may have been wealthy, or have had a wealthy patron—perhaps his friends Arison, to whom each of the surviving books of the larger mechanics is dedicated. Nothing else is known of Ariston, who would seem to have been a man of position and of some mathementical sophistication; in Arabic versions of the text his name is rendered as Maristun. Certainly this straightforward language is better suited to his practical purpose than is the intricate Attic literary prose; the book is full of technical detail that would be of service to an architect, contractor, or—in its sections on war machines and fortifications—a general, and perhaps Ariston was one of these.

    See also

    • Chain pump
    • William M. Murray, The Age of Titans – the rise and fall of the great Hellenistic navies. New York, Oxford University Press, Appenedix E: Book V of Philo's Compendium of Mechanics – The Naval Sections (translated to English), pp.&#;– .

    Notes

    1. ^The name also appears, less often, as Philon, Philon of Byzantium, Philo Byzantium, and Philo Byzanticus.
    2. ^Also various translated as the Compendium of Mechanics, the Engineering Compendium, the Compendium, and Mechanical Collections.
    3. ^The Parasceuastica and Poliorcetica are typically translated together as "On Sieges"
    4. ^The title is also frequently given in Latin as De Septem Mundi Miraculis, De VII Mundi Miraculis, or De 7 Mundi Miraculis.

    References

    1. ^Philip Rance, 'Philo of Byzantium' in R.S.

      Bagnall & al. (edd.), The Encyclopedia of Ancient History (Chichester, )

    2. ^M. J. T. Lewis, Millstone and Hammer: the origins of water power (University of Hull Press ), pp.

    3. Phoenician priest
    4. Canaanite religion and judaism
    5. Semitic gods
    6. Sanchuniathon books

      7. 1–73 especially 44–45 and 58–

    7. ^Wilson, Andrew (): "Machines, Power and the Ancient Economy", The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 92, pp.&#;1–32 (7f.)
    8. ^Werner Soedel, Vernard Foley: "Ancient Catapults", Scientific American, Vol. , No. 3 (March ), pp. –
    9. ^Sarton, G. A History of Science, The Norton Library (Volume 2), , pp.

      –

    10. ^ abLewis, Michael (), "Theoretical Hydraulics, Automata, and Water Clocks", in Wikander, Örjan (ed.), Handbook of Ancient Water Technology, Technology and Change in History, vol.&#;2, Leiden, pp.&#;– (f.), ISBN&#;: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
    11. ^"Joule_biography".

      Archived from the original on 1 December

    12. ^Stephanie Dalley, The Mystery of the Hanging Garden of Babylon; an elusive World wonder traced Oxford University Press () ISBN&#;, p39
    13. ^Stephanie Dalley, "More about the Hanging Gardens," in Of Pots and Pans: Papers on the Archaeology and History of Mesopotamia and Syria as presented to David Oates on his 75th Birthday, Edited by L.

      al-Gailani-Werr, J.E. Curtis, H. Martin, A. McMahon, J. Oates and J.E. Reade, (London), pp. 67–73 ISBN&#;

    External links