Ctesibius or Ktesibios or Tesibius (working 285–222 BC) of Alexandria (Greek Κτησίβιος) was an inventor and mathematician in ancient Greece. His contributions to mathematics and science are second only to Archimedes. He wrote the first treatises on the science of compressed air and its uses in pumps (and even a cannon). This, in combination with his work on the elasticity of air On pneumatics, earned him the title of "father of pneumatics." None of his written work has survived, including his Memorabilia, a compilation of his research that was cited by Athenaeus. Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 330s BC 320s BC 310s BC 300s BC 290s BC - 280s BC - 270s BC 260s BC 250s BC 240s BC 230s BC 290 BC 289 BC 288 BC 287 BC 286 BC 285 BC 284 BC 283 BC 282... Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 270s BC 260s BC 250s BC 240s BC 230s BC - 220s BC - 210s BC 200s BC 190s BC 180s BC 170s BC Years: 227 BC 226 BC 225 BC 224 BC 223 BC - 222 BC - 221 BC 220 BC... Alexandria Modern Alexandria. ... An inventor is a person who creates or discovers new methods, means, or devices. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Archimedes (Greek: ; c. ... A small cannon on a carriage, Bucharest. ... Solid mechanics (also known as the theory of elasticity) is a branch of physics, which governs the response of solid material to applied stress (e. ... Table of Pneumaticks, 1728 Cyclopaedia Pneumatics, from the Greek πνευματικός (pneumatikos, coming from the wind) is the use of pressurized gases to do work in science and technology. ... Athenaeus (ca. ...

Ctesibius was probably the first head of the Museum of Alexandria. Very little is known of his life and work. It is said (possibly by Diogenes Laertius) that his first career was as a barber. During his time as a barber, he invented a clever counterweight-adjustable mirror. His other inventions include the hydraulis, a water organ that is considered the precursor of the modern pipe organ, and an improved water clock called a clepsydra. The clepsydra kept more accurate time than any clock invented until the Dutch physicist Christiaan Huygens detailed the use of a pendulum to regulate a clock in the 17th century. The principle of the siphon has also been attributed to him. The original Musaeum or Temple of the Muses at ancient Alexandria was the source for the modern usage, which denoted in Early Modern France as much a community of scholars brought together under one roof as it did the collections themselves, which French and English writers referred to as a... Diogenes Laërtius, the biographer of the Greek philosophers, is supposed by some to have received his surname from the town of Laerte in Cilicia, and by others from the Roman family of the Laërtii. ... A boy visiting a barber A barber (from the Latin barba, beard) is someone whose occupation is to cut any type of hair, give shaves, and trim beards. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A mirror, reflecting a vase. ... Hydraulis is an early type of pipe organ that operated by converting the dynamic energy of water (hydor) into air pressure to drive the pipes. ... Organ in Katharinenkirche, Frankfurt am Main, Germany // The pipe organ is a musical (keyboard) instrument that produces sound by admitting pressurized air through a series of pipes. ... A water clock or clepsydra is a device for measuring time by letting water regularly flow out of a container usually by a tiny aperture. ... Clepsydra may refer to An ancient type of clock: see Clepsydra (clock) An invertebrate: see Clepsydra (animal) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... A clock (from the Latin cloca, bell) is an instrument for measuring time. ... ... Christiaan Huygens Christiaan Huygens (pronounced in English (IPA): ; in Dutch: )(April 14, 1629–July 8, 1695), was a Dutch mathematician, astronomer and physicist; born in The Hague as the son of Constantijn Huygens. ... Simple gravity pendulum assumes no air resistance and no friction of/at the nail/screw. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... siphon principle A siphon (also spelled syphon) is a continuous tube that allows liquid to drain from a reservoir through an intermediate point that is higher than the reservoir, the up-slope flow being driven only by hydrostatic pressure without any need for pumping. ...

According to Diogenes Laertius, Ctesibius was miserably poor. Laertius details this by recounting the following concerning the philosopher Arcesilaus: Arcesilaus (Ἀρκεσίλαος) (c. ...

"when he had gone to visit Ctesibius who was ill, seeing him in great distress from want, he secretly slipped his purse under his pillow; and when Ctesibius found it, 'This,' said he, 'is the amusement of Arcesilaus.'" [1]

Ctesibius's work is chronicled by Vitruvius, Athenaeus, and Philo of Byzantium who repeatedly mentions him, adding that the first mechanicians such as Ctesibius had the advantage of being under kings who loved fame and supported the arts. Proclus (the commentator on Euclid) and Hero of Alexandria (the last of the engineers of antiquity) also mention him. Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (born ca. ... Athenaeus (ca. ... Philo of Byzantium, Greek writer on mechanics, nourished during the latter half of the 2nd century B.C. (according to some, a century earlier). ... Proclus Lycaeus (February 8, 412 – April 17, 485), surnamed The Successor or diadochos (Greek Πρόκλος ὁ Διάδοχος Próklos ho Diádokhos), was a Greek Neoplatonist philosopher, one of the last major Greek philosophers (see Damascius). ... Euclid, is also referred to as Euclid of Alexandria, (Greek: , about 330 BC– about 275 BC), a Hellenistic mathematician, who lived in the city of Alexandria, Egypt, almost certainly during the reign of Ptolemy I (323 BC–283 BC), is often considered to be the father of geometry. His most... Heros aeolipile Hero (or Heron) of Alexandria (c. ...

External links

• Ancient Greek Scientists: Ctesibius