Heron also invented the first machine working with steam. It was like the modern high-pressure casserole, but I don't know if he used it for faster cooking, too! ;-) Heron of Alexandria was a Greek mathematician, engineer, and inventor of the 1st century AD. He is known mostly for the engineering capabilities especially with hydraulic devices, simple machines, on automations, but he was an important mathematician, too.
The formula of Heron for the area of a triangle, which is sometimes attributed to Archimedes, gives the area in terms of the sides:
A = the square root of the product of s is the semi perimeter of a triangle with sides a, b, and c.
A=(a+b+c)/2
In his book 'Mihanika' (about machines) there are descriptions of 5 different types of machines: derrick, lever, pulley, wedge and worn screw.
Heron also invented the first machine working with steam. It was like the modern high-pressure casserole, but I don't know if he used it for faster cooking, too! ;-)
Olive oil has a big tradition in Greece so the people in ancient Greece had also the real need to put oil out of olives. Heron had made a lot of such devices. Ctesibius also made one based on vacuum pressure!
The automations that Heron constructed remained famous in history for their originality.
In the right picture we see the automation that was forcing the doors of the temple to open whenever a fire was lit on the altar.
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