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GreeceCulture"The hi-tech inventions of the ancient Greeks" of the Museum of Ancient...

“The hi-tech inventions of the ancient Greeks” of the Museum of Ancient Greek Technology

Hellenic News
Hellenic News
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By:  Kostas Kotsanas, CT

Come along on a guided and virtual tour of an exceptional selection of 50 amazing inventions of the ancient Greeks (from the robot – servant of Philon to the “cinema” of Heron and from the hydraulic clock of Archimedes to the analog computer of Antikythera) covering the period from 2000 B.C. up to the end of the ancient Greek world.

Discover that the technology of the ancient Greeks, just before the end of the ancient world, was shockingly similar to the beginning of our modern technology.

Explore this era when ownership for cutting edge technology was not claimed and become aware of how much (more than we think) the Western Civilisation owes to Greeks.

The museum aim to demonstrate that the technology of the ancient Greeks, just before the end of the ancient world, was shockingly similar to the beginning of our modern technology.

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For example, the bolts and nuts, gears and rules, pulleys and belts, sprockets and roller chains, pistons and cylinders, springs, hydraulic controllers and valves, programmers and auto-pilots (all parts of the engine of a modern car) are just some of the inventions of the ancient Greeks which were the foundations of their complex technology. These legacies, identical and irreplaceable, continue today to constitute the building blocks of our modern technology, the development of which would be doubtful without its effortless and undemanding adoption.

Only after a millennium of maturation was humanity able to “recover” this remarkable forgotten technology.

The exploration of this age, when ownership for peak technology was not claimed, demonstrates, without a doubt, how much more (than we think) the modern Western Technological Civilisation owes to the Greeks.

The repeating (“polybolos”) catapult of Dionysios (3rd c. BC)
(the first application of motion through level chains)

Video of the exhibition
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9NYGrgX4Hg

LIST OF THE EXHIBITS

  1. The Antikythera calculating mechanism
    (a …laptop from the antiquity)
  2. The «static» automatic theatre of Heron of Alexandria
    (the «cinema» of the ancient Greeks)
  3.  The hydraulic clock of Archimedes (the first clock with tickings in human history)
  4. The automatic servant of Philon (the first operating robot of humanity)
  5.  The mobile automatic theatre of Heron of Alexandria
    (the programmable automotive «puppet show» of the ancient Greeks)
  6. The hydraulic clock of Κtesibios
    (an automation miracle, continuously working without human interference)
  7. The repeating (“polybolos”) catapult of Dionysios of Alexandria
    (the first application of motion through level chains)
  8. The «hydraulis» (organ) of Ktesibios)
    (the first keyboard instrument in the world)
  9. The hydraulic automaton of the «chirping birds» and of the «returning owl»
    (an exceptional automatism of repeating spectacle with motion and sound production)
  10. The magic fountain of Heron
    (a «restless» device that «breaks» the laws of hydrostatics)
  11.  The ingenious wine-jug of Philon
    (the first «intelligent» appliance of domestic use in human history)
  12. The alarm clock of Plato
    (the first awakening device in human history)
  13. The gimbal of Philon  (the first gyroscope of history)
  14.  The astrolabe of Ptolemy
    (the …G.P.S. of the ancient Greeks)
  15. The automatic opening of the temple gates after sacrifice had taken place on its altar
    (the first automatization in building worldwide)
  16. The «aeolosphere» of Heron
    (the first «steam-machine» of history)
  17. The dioptra of Heron (a theodolite and a chorobate from …the past)
  18. The fire pump of Heron
    (the first force piston fire pump worldwide)
  19. The nut fabrication machine of Heron (the first internal screw cutter in human history)
  20. The automatic holy water server with coin-collector
    (the first slot machine in human history)
  21. The road distance calculator «hodometre»
    (the first …taximetre in human history)
  22. The sound alarm of Heron
    (the first warning mechanism in human history)
  23. The steam cannon of Archimedes  (the first cannon in human history)
  24. The belly-bow («gastraphetes»)
    (the most ancient catapult)
  25.  The bipod crane
    (the crane, which built the Parthenon)
  26. The hydraulic endless screw of Archimedes
  27.  The «hysplex»
    (the first athletic mechanism in human history)
  28.  The «hydraulic telegraph» of Aeneas
    (the first telecommunication device worldwide)
  29.  The flying pigeon of Archytas
    (the first flying machine in human history)
  30.  The pantograph of Heron
    (the first device of copy, enlargement and diminution in human history)
  31.  The «Greek» watermill of Stravon
    (the exploitation of hydraulic energy for the very first time worldwide)
  32.  The windpowered «hydraulis» (organ)
    (the exploitation of aeolian energy for the very first time worldwide)
  33.  The tetrantas of Hipparhos (Quadrant)
    (the first latitude locator of daily use)
  34.  The automatic goblet of Philon
    (the first self-adjusting controller of the level in human history
  35. The Pythagoras cup
    (the first application of the axial siphon worldwide)
  36. The four- cubit dioptra of Archimedes
  37.  The cut hemispherical sundial
    (Aristarhos’ sundial)
  38. Fire signals and beacons
    (the first coded telecommunication device worldwide)
  39. The «plinthis» (block) of Hipparchus
  40. The Pythagoras’ «monochord» (single-stringed)
    (the first scientific musical instrument worldwide)
  41. The «polis»
    (the ancestor of chess)
  42. The bow lathe
  43. The ostomachion of Archimedes
    (the first puzzle in human history)
  44. The cryptic (Laconian) relay
  45. Aeneas’ cryptographic disc
  46. The twofold waxed plates
  47. The geometric kinematic mechanisms
    (the Plato’s cubist)
  48. The geometric kinematic mechanisms
    (the Nikomides’ Trisector (Trichotomos)
  49. The geometric kinematic mechanisms
    (the Eratosthenes’ mesolabe (mean-taker)
  50. The geometric kinematic mechanisms
    (the Proklos’ «ellipsografos» (tool for carving ellipses)

 

 

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