Thank goodness for television. Or else, where would I learn things or learn about things to go learn about things. If you know what I mean.
Who doesn't love Egyptian and Roman and Greek shows on Discovery and the History channel? They've been sharing the amazing inventions of the ancient Egyptian/Roman from Alexandria, Heron.
This is the man who invented the first mechanical clocks, not just relative time keepers. He invented the first vending machine that dispensed holy water to wash your hands with. He invented temple doors that opened after a fire was lit in honor of the gods. He invented a machine gun for arrows. He programmed mechanical theatrical productions with fantastic arrangements of set changes and other productions all pre determined by his mechanical invention. Perhaps most remarkably unfortunate of all, he nearly invented a steam engine. He only had to combine a couple of his inventions together, and he would have had a steam engine.
Imagine being in ancient Egypt during the Roman Empire, prior to the Chritstians. This is the time of the library of Alexandria. Chances are with my luck I would have been a slave or poor worker of some kind, uneducated, lucky to have any kind of training if any, probably farming fields on the Nile, maybe fishing. In the city would be a clock kept by running water. THere would be water dispensers to drink from that would automatically refill themselves. Entering the temple, there would be a jar to place a coin in that would dispense a predetermined amount of water to wash one's hands. Someone would make an offering and light a fire in front of the doors to a sanctuary. After maybe 20 or 30 minutes of praying, calling for the the god to appear, the doors would just open and reveal the statue of the god. When the ceremony was done, the sacrifice burned out, the doors would then close by themselves.
Imagine if the library of Alexandria hadn't been destroyed, or if the Romans were interested in recreating and continuing the study of Alexandria. Short of the electromagnet, they could have had an Industrial Revolution 2000 years before our times did.
posted by: newbie (reply)
post date: 03.13.04 (8:07 pm)
