Heron's fountain
Fuente de Herón
- Date
- c. 60 CE · confidence low
- Place
- Alexandria, Egypt
- Credited to
- Hero of Alexandria
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What it is
A hydraulic machine by Hero of Alexandria that produces a water jet using the pressure of enclosed air, with no pumps or external moving parts; it is still used today in classrooms to demonstrate hydraulic and pneumatic principles.
A different device from the aeolipile, already catalogued; both are inventions by Hero based on different principles (hydraulic pressure versus steam).
What it led to
- Modern educational demonstrations of hydraulics and pneumatics
- Hero's tradition of automata and hydraulic toys