Pantograph or Pointing machine? Pointing machine a device to copy a 2 or three dimensional object. According to ArtLex it was used by the Greeks and Roman sculptors to produce copies of art. A Pantogragh is a 2 dimensional version and was reinvented in the Renaissance. See Pointing machine and Pantograph . I don't know if such a device was used earlier. There is a reference “Did the Greeks use a pointing machine?” Bulletin Archéologique 30 (2003) 55-64 but I have no access to this journal to provide more details.
Parabolic Mirror or Parabolic Reflector Some guess that in 214 BC Archimedes used many mirrors that approximated a parabolic mirror. Diocles the mathematician in his work On burning mirrors was the first to prove the focal property of a parabolic mirror. Applications of the parabolic reflector today: satellite dishes, optic and radio telescopes, parabolic microphones, lighting devices Parchment But it is worth reiterating that Western thought owes a great debt to the Egyptians, who invented books in the form of papyrus rolls. From the Pharaohs to the Ptolemies About 170 BC David N. Carvalho : It is said that the skins of 300 sheep were used in every copy of the first printed Bible. Hence the old saying, "It takes a flock of sheep to write a book." Information from: Meir Bar-Ilan Patents The Sybarites (from the Greek city of Sybaris in Southern Italy), having given loose to their luxury, made a law that. . .if any confectioner or cook invented any peculiar and excellent dish, no other artist was allowed to make this for a year; but he alone who invented it was entitled to all the profits to be derived from the manufacture of it for that time; in order that others might be induced to labour at excelling in such pursuits. Athenaeus (200 BC) Devices (revolving prisms with painted scenery) used in the theater. It was probably used as early as Sophocles who is said to have used first paintings (scene decoration). The parts of the scene are to be so distributed, that the middle door may be decorated as one of a royal palace; those on the right and left, as the doors of the guests. Near these are the spaces destined to receive the decorations; which places the Greeks call periaktoi , from the turning triangular machines. Each of these machines has three species of decoration, which, when the subject changes, or on the appearance of a god, are moved round with sudden claps of thunder, and alter the appearance of the decoration. Near these places the turnings run out, which give entrance to the scene from the forum and from the country. Vitruvius Piston By Ctesibius around 250 BC, see Pump. Plato's Alarm Clock Mechanism build by Plato using a water clock to produce a signal that tells the students that it is time to enter the Academy. Described by Aristocles a music theory expert of the 2nd centrury BC. Η. Diels, Antike Technik, Berlin 1914, page 199-200 Pozzolana (a Cement version) 230 BC. Properties of Pozzolana discovered. Cement in Ancient Greece Romans improve upon Greek technology and add broken brick and tile as well brick dust and volcanic ash (pozzoli) to produce lime mortar. Vitruvius indicates that Romans knew to burning argillaceous limestone would produce a hydraulic lime cement. (The Pantheon is an impressive example of the use of “cement” by Romans) Volcanic Ash in Ancient and Modern Construction Pump of Ctesibius By Ctesibius around 250 BC. Pythagoras Cup of Justice
A Cup invented by Pythagoras. If the Cup was filled then an exterior tube in the center of the Cup was also filled through small holes in its bottom. When the level of the liquid in the Cup was above some mark then the liquid could flow through an inner tube allowing the liquid to escape the Cup. The result was that the Cup was emptied immediately by a “Suck Mechanism” as soon as the liquid level in the Cup exceeded the height of the inner tube. Pythagoras wanted to teach his students that they should be moderate. (Probably described also by Heron of Alexandria and known as Heron Cup or Tantalus Cup. Ref: Schlichting, H. J., Ucke, C., Der Trank aus dem Tantalusbecher, Physik in unserer Zeit 29 (1998) 174-176, in German. )
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