Philo of Byzantium Φίλων ὁ Βυζάντιος | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 280 BC |
| Died | c. 220 BCE |
| Occupations |
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Philo of Byzantium[a] (Ancient Greek:Φίλων ὁ Βυζάντιος,Phílōn ho Byzántios,c. 280 BC – c. 220 BC), also known asPhilo Mechanicus (Latin for "Philo the Engineer"), was a Greek engineer, physicist and writer onmechanics, who lived during the latter half of the 3rd century BC. Although he was fromByzantium he lived most of his life inAlexandria, Egypt. He was probably younger thanCtesibius, though some place him a century earlier.
Philo was the author of a large work, theSyntaxis (Μηχανική Σύνταξη,Mēkhanikḗ Sýntaxē),[b] which contained the following sections:[1]
The military sectionsBelopoeica andPoliorcetica are extant in Greek, detailing missiles, the construction of fortresses, provisioning, attack and defence, as are fragments ofIsagoge andAutomatopoeica (ed. R. Schone, 1893, with German translation in Hermann August Theodor Köchly'sGriechische Kriegsschriftsteller, vol. i. 1853; E. A. Rochas d'Aiglun, Poliorcetique des Grecs, 1872).
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 ofHeron of Alexandria, vol. i., in theTeubner series, 1899; with French translation by Rochas,La Science des philosophes... dans l'antiquité, 1882). Further portions probably survive in a derivative form, incorporated into the works ofVitruvius and ofArabic authors.
ThePhilo line, a geometric construction that can be used todouble the cube, is attributed to Philo.
According to recent research, a section of Philo'sPneumatics which so far has been regarded as a later Arabic interpolation, includes the first description of awater 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 arepeating crossbow. Two flat-linked chains were connected to awindlass, 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 agimbal: an eight-sidedink pot that could be turned any way without spilling and expose the ink on top. 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 hisPneumatics (chapter 31) Philo describes anescapement mechanism, the earliest known, as part of awashstand.[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 firstthermoscope (or Philo thermometer), an early version of the thermometer.[7]
In mathematics, Philo tackled the problem ofdoubling 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 rectangularhyperbola and acircle, a solution that is similar to the solution given byHero of Alexandria several centuries later.
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 inR. Hercher's edition of Aelian (Paris: Firmin Didot, 1858); an English translation by Jean Blackwood is included as an appendix inThe Seven Wonders of the World by Michael Ashley (Glasgow: Fontana Paperbacks, 1980).
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