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1 Alexandria
A dress fabric, cotton warp and wool weft, woven in small designs. -
2 Alexandria Cotton
A low grade of Egyptian cotton - short staple and is dirty. -
3 Alexandria, Ctesibius of
See: Ctesibius of AlexandriaBiographical history of technology > Alexandria, Ctesibius of
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4 Alexandria, Hero of
See: Hero of Alexandria -
5 Hero of Alexandria
SUBJECT AREA: Architecture and building, Mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic engineering, Photography, film and optics, Steam and internal combustion engines[br]fl. c.62 AD Alexandria[br]Alexandrian mathematician and mechanician.[br]Nothing is known of Hero, or Heron, apart from what can be gleaned from the books he wrote. Their scope and style suggest that he was a teacher at the museum or the university of Alexandria, writing textbooks for his students. The longest book, and the one with the greatest technological interest, is Pneumatics. Some of its material is derived from the works of the earlier writers Ctesibius of Alexandria and Philo of Byzantium, but many of the devices described were invented by Hero himself. The introduction recognizes that the air is a body and demonstrates the effects of air pressure, as when air must be allowed to escape from a closed vessel before water can enter. There follow clear descriptions of a variety of mechanical contrivances depending on the effects of either air pressure or heated gases. Most of the devices seem trivial, but such toys or gadgets were popular at the time and Hero is concerned to show how they work. Inventions with a more serious purpose are a fire pump and a water organ. One celebrated gadget is a sphere that is set spinning by jets of steam—an early illustration of the reaction principle on which modern jet propulsion depends.M echanics, known only in an Arabic version, is a textbook expounding the theory and practical skills required by the architect. It deals with a variety of questions of mechanics, such as the statics of a horizontal beam resting on vertical posts, the theory of the centre of gravity and equilibrium, largely derived from Archimedes, and the five ways of applying a relatively small force to exert a much larger one: the lever, winch, pulley, wedge and screw. Practical devices described include sledges for transporting heavy loads, cranes and a screw cutter.Hero's Dioptra describes instruments used in surveying, together with an odometer or device to indicate the distance travelled by a wheeled vehicle. Catoptrics, known only in Latin, deals with the principles of mirrors, plane and curved, enunciating that the angle of incidence is equal to that of reflection. Automata describes two forms of puppet theatre, operated by strings and drums driven by a falling lead weight attached to a rope wound round an axle. Hero's mathematical work lies in the tradition of practical mathematics stretching from the Babylonians through Islam to Renaissance Europe. It is seen most clearly in his Metrica, a treatise on mensuration.Of all his works, Pneumatics was the best known and most influential. It was one of the works of Greek science and technology assimilated by the Arabs, notably Banu Musa ibn Shakir, and was transmitted to medieval Western Europe.[br]BibliographyAll Hero's works have been printed with a German translation in Heronis Alexandrini opera quae supersunt omnia, 1899–1914, 5 vols, Leipzig. The book on pneumatics has been published as The Pneumatics of Hero of Alexandria, 1851, trans. and ed. Bennet Wood-croft, London (facs. repr. 1971, introd. Marie Boas Hall, London and New York).Further ReadingA.G.Drachmann, 1948, "Ktesibios, Philon and Heron: A Study in Ancient Pneumatics", Acta Hist. Sci. Nat. Med. 4, Copenhagen: Munksgaard.T.L.Heath, 1921, A History of Greek Mathematics, Oxford (still useful for his mathematical work).LRD -
6 Ctesibius (Ktesibios) of Alexandria
[br]fl. c.270 BC Alexandria[br]Alexandrian mechanician and inventor.[br]Ctesibius made a number of inventions of great importance, which he described in his book Pneumatics, now lost. The Roman engineer and architect Vitruvius quoted extracts from Ctesibius' work in his De Architectura and tells us that Ctesibius was the son of a barber and that he arranged an adjustable mirror controlled by a lead counterweight descending in a cylinder. He noticed that the weight compressed the air, which could be released with a loud noise. That led him to realize that the air was a body or substance: by means of a cylinder and plunger, he went on to invent an air pump with valves. This he connected to the keyboard and rows of pipes of an organ. He also invented a force pump for water.Ctesibius also improved the clepsydra or water clock, which measured time by the fall of water level in a vessel as the water escaped through a hole in the bottom. The rate of flow varied as the level dropped, so Ctesibius interposed a cistern with an overflow pipe, enabling the water level to be maintained; there was thus a constant flow into a cylinder and the passage of time was indicated by a float with a pointer. He fitted a rack to the float which turned a toothed wheel, to activate bells, singing birds or other "toys". This is probably the first known use of toothed gearing.Ctesibius is credited with some other inventions of a military nature, such as a catapult, but it was his pumps that established a tradition in antiquity for mechanical invention using the pressure of the air and other fluids, stretching through Philo of Byzantium (c.150 BC) and Hero of Alexandria (c.62 AD) and on through Islam into medieval Western Europe.[br]Further ReadingA.G.Drachmann, 1948, Ktesibios, Philon and Heron: A Study in Ancient Pneumatics, Copenhagen: Munksgaard (Acta Hist. Sci. Nat. Med. 4).LRDBiographical history of technology > Ctesibius (Ktesibios) of Alexandria
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7 Ktesibios of Alexandria
See: Ctesibius of AlexandriaBiographical history of technology > Ktesibios of Alexandria
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8 Alexander
An ancient form of fabric variously described by different authorities, but generally supposed to have been a black and white striped silk, made at Alexandria; first mentioned in a.d. 1327 and used for church vestments (see Burdalisander) -
9 Bucioche
An inferior woollen cloth, made in France and exported to Alexandria, Cairo, etc. -
10 Burdalisander
A silk fabric in various coloured stripes, believed to originate from Alexandria, North Africa. First mentioned in the 14th century (see Alexander). Also known as Burda and Bourde de Elisandre. Used for clothing. -
11 Othonion
Cotton fabrics of unknown construction, made in Palestine and first mentioned by Clement of Alexandria about A.D. 200 -
12 Paile
PAILE, PALEA term used from the 11th to the 14th century for fabric of rich quality used for dresses, cloaks, coats of arms, seat covers, awnings, flags and other purposes. It is mentioned as from Alexandria, Egypt, Spain, Sagrad, Damascus, India, and many other places, so because of this widespread mention it may have been a collective term applied indiscriminately to cloth of gold, samit, siglaton, etc. It is also possibly identical with the English " pall" referring to a cloth used for covering. -
13 Pale
PAILE, PALEA term used from the 11th to the 14th century for fabric of rich quality used for dresses, cloaks, coats of arms, seat covers, awnings, flags and other purposes. It is mentioned as from Alexandria, Egypt, Spain, Sagrad, Damascus, India, and many other places, so because of this widespread mention it may have been a collective term applied indiscriminately to cloth of gold, samit, siglaton, etc. It is also possibly identical with the English " pall" referring to a cloth used for covering. -
14 Siglaton
Similar to cloth of gold, mostly red colour, but also in various designs, gold and green crosses, etc. Mentioned from the 12th to the 14th century. Used for women's clothing especially, but also for men's, as well as for coats of arms, in England, France and Spain. It was also used for the tight-fitting hose worn by men, for canopies, ceremonial, horse blankets. The costliest grades came from Almeria, Spain, and Alexandria, Egypt. -
15 Anthemios of Tralles
SUBJECT AREA: Architecture and building[br]fl. sixth century AD Tralles, Lydia, Asia Minor[br]Greek architect, geometer, mathematician and physicist.[br]Tralles was a wealthy city in ancient Greece. Ruins of the city are situated on a plateau above the present-day Turkish city of Aydin, in Asia Minor, which is near to Ephesus. In 334 BC Tralles was used as a base by Alexander the Great and later it was occupied by the Romans. After the collapse of the western half of the Roman Empire in the fifth century AD Tralles remained a part of the Byzantine Empire until its destruction in 1282. Anthemios was one of the great sons of Tralles and was probably educated in Alexandria. He is especially famed as architect (with Isodorus of Miletos) of the great Church of Santa Sophia in Istanbul. This vast building, later a Turkish mosque and now a museum, was built for the Emperor Justinian between 532 and 537 AD. It was an early and, certainly for many centuries, the largest example of pendentive construction to support a dome. This form, using the spherical triangles of the pendentives, enabled a circular-based dome to be supported safely upon piers that stood on a square plan below. It gradually replaced the earlier squinch type of structure, though both forms of design stem from Middle Eastern origins. At Santa Sophia the dome rises to 180ft (55m) above floor level and has a diameter of over 100ft (30m). Together with Isodorus, Anthemios also worked upon the Church of the Holy Apostles in Istanbul.[br]Further ReadingG.L.Huxley, 1959, Anthemius of Tralles: A Study in Later Greek Geometry, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.Procopius, 1913, De Aedificiis, On the Buildings Constructed by the Emperor Justinian, Leipzig.Richard Krautheimer, 1965, Early Christian and Byzantine Architcture, Penguin.DY -
16 Apollonius of Perga
SUBJECT AREA: Architecture and building[br]b. c.240 BC Perga, Pamphylia, Greeced. 190 BC[br]Greek mathematician, geometer and astronomer.[br]Ruins of the ancient Greek city of Perga lie near to the Turkish town of Murtana, just inland from Antalya on the southern coast of Asia Minor. Apollonius, while quite young, went to Alexandria to study under the successors to Euclid. He also worked in Ephesus and Pergamum. He later carried out original studies into the geometrical proportions of conic sections, producing his famous work Conies and naming the ellipse, the parabola and the hyperbola. Conics, which appeared soon after 200 BC, consisted of eight treatises and earned him the name "the great geometer", given to him by his contemporaries. Seven of the eight treatises have survived, four in the original Greek and three in Arabic translation; a Latin translation was edited by Halley in 1710. Apollonius also published works on the cylindrical helix and theories of the epicycles and eccentrics, with reference to the motion of the planets.[br]Further ReadingG.J.Toomer, Apollonius: Conies, Berlin: Springer Verlag.DY -
17 Archimedes of Syracuse
[br]b. 287 BCd. 212 BC[br]Greek engineer who made the first measurement of specific gravity.[br]He studied in Alexandria, after which he returned to Syracuse where he spent most of the rest of his life. He made many mathematical discoveries, including the most accurate calculation of pi made up to that time. In engineering he was the founder of the science of hydrostatics. He is well known for the discovery of "Archimedes" Law', that a body wholly or partly immersed in a fluid loses weight equal to the weight of the fluid displaced. He thus made the first measurement of specific gravity.Archimedes also proved the law of the lever and developed the theory of mechanical advantage, boasting to his cousin Hieron, "Give me a place to stand on and with a lever I will move the whole world." To prove his point, he launched one of the biggest ships built up to that date. During his time in Egypt, he devised the "Archimedean Screw", still used today in Middle Eastern countries for pumping water. He also built an astronomical instrument to demonstrate the movements of the heavenly bodies, a form of orrery.He was General of Ordnance to Heiron, and when the Romans besieged Syracuse, a legionary came across Archimedes drawing geometrical diagrams in the sand. Archimedes immediately told him to 'Keep off and the soldier killed him. He also experimented with burning glasses and mirrors for setting fire to wooden ships.[br]Further ReadingL.Sprague de Camp, 1963, Ancient Engineers, Souvenir Press. E.J.Dijksterhuis, 1956, Archimedes, Copenhagen: Munksgaard.IMcN -
18 Architecture and building
Biographical history of technology > Architecture and building
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19 Braun, Wernher Manfred von
[br]b. 23 March 1912 Wirsitz, Germanyd. 16 June 1977 Alexandria, Virginia, USA[br]German pioneer in rocket development.[br]Von Braun's mother was an amateur astronomer who introduced him to the futuristic books of Jules Verne and H.G.Wells and gave him an astronomical telescope. He was a rather slack and undisciplined schoolboy until he came across Herman Oberth's book By Rocket to Interplanetary Space. He discovered that he required a good deal of mathematics to follow this exhilarating subject and immediately became an enthusiastic student.The Head of the Ballistics and Armaments branch of the German Army, Professor Karl Becker, had asked the engineer Walter Dornberger to develop a solid-fuel rocket system for short-range attack, and one using liquid-fuel rockets to carry bigger loads of explosives beyond the range of any known gun. Von Braun joined the Verein für Raumschiffsfahrt (the German Space Society) as a young man and soon became a leading member. He was asked by Rudolf Nebel, VfR's chief, to persuade the army of the value of rockets as weapons. Von Braun wisely avoided all mention of the possibility of space flight and some financial backing was assured. Dornberger in 1932 built a small test stand for liquid-fuel rockets and von Braun built a small rocket to test it; the success of this trial won over Dornberger to space rocketry.Initially research was carried out at Kummersdorf, a suburb of Berlin, but it was decided that this was not a suitable site. Von Braun recalled holidays as a boy at a resort on the Baltic, Peenemünde, which was ideally suited to rocket testing. Work started there but was not completed until August 1939, when the group of eighty engineers and scientists moved in. A great fillip to rocket research was received when Hitler was shown a film and was persuaded of the efficacy of rockets as weapons of war. A factory was set up in excavated tunnels at Mittelwerk in the Harz mountains. Around 6,000 "vengeance" weapons were built, some 3,000 of which were fired on targets in Britain and 2,000 of which were still in storage at the end of the Second World War.Peenemünde was taken by the Russians on 5 May 1945, but by then von Braun was lodging with many of his colleagues at an inn, Haus Ingeburg, near Oberjoch. They gave themselves up to the Americans, and von Braun presented a "prospectus" to the Americans, pointing out how useful the German rocket team could be. In "Operation Paperclip" some 100 of the team were moved to the United States, together with tons of drawings and a number of rocket missiles. Von Braun worked from 1946 at the White Sands Proving Ground, New Mexico, and in 1950 moved to Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama. In 1953 he produced the Redstone missile, in effect a V2 adapted to carry a nuclear warhead a distance of 320 km (199 miles). The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was formed in 1958 and recruited von Braun and his team. He was responsible for the design of the Redstone launch vehicles which launched the first US satellite, Explorer 1, in 1958, and the Mercury capsules of the US manned spaceflight programme which carried Alan Shepard briefly into space in 1961 and John Glenn into earth orbit in 1962. He was also responsible for the Saturn series of large, staged launch vehicles, which culminated in the Saturn V rocket which launched the Apollo missions taking US astronauts for the first human landing on the moon in 1969. Von Braun announced his resignation from NASA in 1972 and died five years later.[br]Bibliography1981, with F.L.Ordway, History of Rocketry and Space TravelFurther ReadingP.Marsh, 1985, The Space Business, Penguin. J.Trux, 1985, The Space Race, New English Library. T.Osman, 1983, Space History, Michael Joseph.IMcNBiographical history of technology > Braun, Wernher Manfred von
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20 Horology
See also: INDEX BY SUBJECT AREA[br]Ctesibius of AlexandriaGrimthorpe, Edmund Beckett, BaronSu SongYi-XingZhang Sixun
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Alexandria — (Iskenderia på arabisk) er en havneby i Ægypten ved Middelhavet. Den fik sit navn efter Alexander den Store, som grundlagde den, og var Euclids hjemby. I mere end tusinde år efter grundlæggelsen, var byen landets hovedstad, residens for det… … Danske encyklopædi
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Alexandria, LA — U.S. city in Louisiana Population (2000): 46342 Housing Units (2000): 19806 Land area (2000): 26.411623 sq. miles (68.405787 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.578442 sq. miles (1.498157 sq. km) Total area (2000): 26.990065 sq. miles (69.903944 sq. km) … StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places
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