Hero of Alexandria
Ancient inventor of the steam engine
Greek engineer of Roman Egypt (c. 1st century AD), a master of automata.
Eighteen centuries before the Industrial Revolution, he built the aeolipile — a spinning steam-powered sphere. He also designed a coin-operated vending machine for holy water and temple doors that opened 'by magic' when a fire was lit.
Famous for
- The aeolipile (first steam device)
- First vending machine
- Automatic temple doors
- Programmable automata
In Rubicon
Hero of Alexandria is one of the historical characters you can play as in Rubicon, a trivia game where you answer in your own words and an AI judge reads what you meant. Hero of Alexandria is filed under Technology & Engineering, and is strongest at Technology & Engineering.
Others in Technology & Engineering
- Nikola Tesla — Alternating current + wireless dreams
- Alexander Graham Bell — Invented the telephone
- Alan Turing — Father of computer science
- Archimedes of Syracuse — Eureka! + war machines
- Ada Lovelace — First computer programmer
- Hedy Lamarr — Movie star + frequency hopping