Showing posts with label Ctesibus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ctesibus. Show all posts

Monday, May 23, 2022

Automata

 

Automata, robots if you like, mechanical devices that move under their own power. Aristotle the Philosopher described them thus, “A kind of puppet with the ability to move by itself.” And of course such things were no stranger to the ancient world.




Hero of Alexandria, Ctesibus and others produced automata, mechanical wonders to amuse and amaze. These were, apparently, employed for the advancement of theater and liturgy, amphitheater and temple, and not deployed industrially. They had slaves for that. And so to today.

A kind of puppet with the ability to move by itself. Extant? Here, have a look.




Who runs it? Good question, who's behind all those water clocks, differential gears and plastiskin. And yes, the tech's obviously not quite right. Perhaps that's why 81 million voted for this apparent human, even though they didn't. 

Your Old Friend,

LSP