Episode 32 - Hero of Alexandria - A Hero to us all

Episode 32 - Hero of Alexandria - A Hero to us all

This week, Benjamin Cornish invites you to step into the steam-powered sandals of Hero of Alexandria—the ancient world’s most enthusiastic gadgeteer. Was he a mathematician? An engineer? A magician in a toga? Yes. Yes. And absolutely yes. From vending machines that accepted drachmas to the first recorded steam engine (that did absolutely nothing useful), Hero turned math into motion and geometry into gears.

Join us as we unpack Hero’s life in the shadow of Archimedes, his flair for theatrical automation, and his deeply satisfying triangle-area formula that has saved generations of students from drawing impossible altitudes. Along the way, we reflect on mirrors, vending machines, and whether Hero secretly invented the Rube Goldberg machine 1,900 years before Goldberg was born.

Keywords: Hero of Alexandria, ancient mathematics, triangle area formula, aeolipile, Greek engineering, historical inventions, automata, classical geometry, ancient optics, early machines, Metrica, Heron’s formula, steam engine history

Hashtags: #MathsPodcast #HistoryOfMaths #HeroOfAlexandria #AncientInventions #SteamPowerBeforeItWasCool #MathematicalHistory #EngineeringOrigins #HeronsFormula #Pneumatics #AlexandriaEra

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(59)

Episode 59 - Varāhamihira (And Bhāskara I)  - Back to School

Episode 59 - Varāhamihira (And Bhāskara I) - Back to School

Was Varāhamihira the world's first statistician? Could a sixth-century mathematician really predict the monsoon using observational data? And how did Bhāskara I produce one of the greatest approximati...

3 Elo 24min

Episode 57 – Aryabhata – From hero to zero

Episode 57 – Aryabhata – From hero to zero

The Gupta Empire reaches its scientific zenith as we meet one of the greatest mathematicians of Late Antiquity. Aryabhata (476–550 CE) helped transform astronomy and mathematics in India through a rem...

3 Heinä 47min

Episode 57 - Yavanesvara - The Lord of the Greeks

Episode 57 - Yavanesvara - The Lord of the Greeks

The Silk Road carried spices, gemstones, ideas... and, occasionally, trigonometry. In this episode of The Mathematicians Podcast, we follow the mysterious figure known as Yavanesvara, the "Lord of the...

9 Kesä 44min

Episode 56 - Pingala - Beats us up

Episode 56 - Pingala - Beats us up

Episode 42: Pingala – The Poet of Binary Why is a 2nd-century BCE Indian grammarian being featured on a mathematics podcast? Because centuries before the "Founding Fathers" of Western mathematics were...

17 Touko 10min

Episode 55 - Injective - Thomas K Briggs - On The Mathematicians' Library

Episode 55 - Injective - Thomas K Briggs - On The Mathematicians' Library

In this special book club episode of 'The Mathematicians Podcast', I sit down with author, maths communicator, and museum learning consultant, Thomas K. Briggs. Join us for a glass of wine and a deep ...

20 Huhti 1h 20min

Episode 54 - Umaswati - Mind the Gap

Episode 54 - Umaswati - Mind the Gap

In this episode of The Mathematicians Podcast, I am jumping ahead 800 years and travelling 5,000 km back to India to pick up the threads of a fascinating mathematical tradition. I’ll be introducing yo...

25 Maalis 30min

Episode 53 - Nabu-rimanni & Kidinu - Systematically Speaking

Episode 53 - Nabu-rimanni & Kidinu - Systematically Speaking

When is an approximation "good enough"? This week on The Mathematicians Podcast, host Benjamin Cornish opens the doors to his  gem and fossil shop to discuss why a polished piece of glass, or a clever...

17 Helmi 28min

Episode 52 - Apastamba - What He Said.

Episode 52 - Apastamba - What He Said.

Episode 52 of The Mathematicians Podcast, takes us deep into the world of ancient Indian mathematics with a focus on Apastamba and his contributions to the Sulvasutras. Following in the footsteps of B...

27 Tammi 22min

Suosittua kategoriassa Tiede

rss-poliisin-mieli
tiedekulma-podcast
rss-mita-tulisi-tietaa
docemilia
utelias-mieli
rss-tiedetta-vai-tarinaa
rss-hereilla
rss-bios-podcast
hippokrateen-vastaanotolla
rss-lapsuuden-rakentajat-podcast
radio-antro
rss-duodecim-lehti
rss-totuuden-liepeilla