Ctesibius
Ctesibius | |
|---|---|
| Born | 285 BC Unknown |
| Died | 222 BC Alexandria, Egypt |
| Nationality | Greek |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
Ctesibius or Ktesibios or Tesibius (
elasticity of air, earned him the title of "father of pneumatics." None of his written work has survived, including his Memorabilia, a compilation of his research that was cited by Athenaeus. Ctesibius' most commonly known invention today is a pipe organ (hydraulis
), a predecessor of the modern church organ.
Inventions
Ctesibius was probably the first head of the
hydraulis, a water organ that is considered the precursor of the modern pipe organ, of which he and his wife Thais were highly reputed players.[2][3] He improved the water clock or clepsydra ("water thief"), which for more than 1,800 years was the most accurate clock ever constructed, until the Dutch physicist Christiaan Huygens' invention of the pendulum clock
in 1656.
Ctesibius described one of the first
force pumps for producing a jet of water, or for lifting water from wells. Examples have been found at various Roman sites, such as at Silchester in Britain. The principle of the siphon
has also been attributed to him.
According to
Diogenes Laërtius, Ctesibius was miserably poor. Laërtius details this by recounting the following concerning the philosopher Arcesilaus
:
When he had gone to visit Ctesibius who was ill, seeing him in great distress from want, he secretly slipped his purse under his pillow; and when Ctesibius found it, "This," said he, "is the amusement of Arcesilaus."
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Reputation
Ctesibius's work is chronicled by Vitruvius, Athenaeus, Pliny the Elder, and Philo of Byzantium who repeatedly mention him, adding that the first mechanicians such as Ctesibius had the advantage of being under kings who loved fame and supported the arts. Proclus (the commentator on Euclid) and Hero of Alexandria (the last of the engineers of antiquity) also mention him.
Commemoration
- In 1976, the International Astronomical Union named the crater on the far side of the Moon Ctesibius.[4]
References
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica: Ctesibius. "Greek physicist and inventor, the first great figure of the ancient engineering tradition of Alexandria, Egypt."
- ^ Athenaeus Deipnosophistae 4.174e
- ISBN 9781573240109.
- ^ "Ctesibius". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
Further reading
- Landels, J.G. (1978). Engineering in the ancient world. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press. ISBN 0-520-03429-5.
- Lloyd, G.E.R. (1973). Greek science after Aristotle. New York: Norton. ISBN 0-393-04371-1.
- Vitruvius (1914). The Ten Books on Architecture. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
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