While the Editor of the present work was engaged in writing an
_Analytical History of the Steam-Engine_, it became necessary to
consult the antient mechanicians to ascertain who were the inventors of
the several parts composing that machine: the earliest writer on the
subject appeared to be Hero of Alexandria; throughout whose work so
many of the elementary parts of all Steam-Engines, and those also of
most other machines are mentioned, that it was thought a translation of
Hero’s Pneumatics would be acceptable not only to the Engineer but to
the scientific world generally.
Although at the commencement of his work, Hero states that he has added
his own discoveries to those “handed down by former writers,” yet in no
instance has he pointed out any thing which originated with himself;
nor is there any statement in the text, except the one I have just
quoted, which would lead the reader to any other conclusion than that
the whole is a compilation from the works of those who at that period
of time were styled the “antient philosophers and mechanicians.”
Those parts of each vessel or instrument which mechanically perform
the operations assigned to them are alike, or nearly so, in the four
manuscript and the three printed copies of Hero’s works which have been
consulted by the Editor; but great diversity of form is given to the
vessel in which they are placed. The drawings have been made expressly
for this work from the best examples.
The seventy-eighth proposition is the only instance in which there is
an omission of the illustrative drawing, and this occurs in all the
copies; the two drawings which are now supplied to that proposition
have been made from the descriptions given in the text.
For the Translation of Hero from the Greek, the valuable assistance of
Mr. J. G. Greenwood, Fellow of University College, London, has been
obtained: he is the recently appointed Professor of the Languages and
Literature of Greece and Rome, in Owen’s College, Manchester.
It is confidently hoped that this Translation will be found superior to
its predecessors in whatever language; and that it will prove not only
generally interesting but practically useful.
[Illustration: Decorative border of curled leafy vines.]