What Was Dispensed by the World’s First Vending Machine?
Hero of Alexandria -- also known as Heron of Alexandira -- was a mathematician, engineer and inventor who lived in Egypt, which was then a province of the Roman Empire, during the 1st century AD. Hero used his deductive gifts to create numerous mechanical inventions, including the first steam-powered device, an automatic door opener, a device that aided surveyors, a crude fire engine, the first syringe, and a wind-powered organ. Hero is also credited with inventing the first known vending machine, which dispensed a splash of holy water whenever a worshipper inserted a heavy coin.
Power of the mind:
Hero was either Greek or a Hellenized Egyptian. He was a prolific writer, but many of his manuscripts and designs have been lost over time.
Hero was a follower of the groundbreaking work of Ctesibius, the man thought to be the first head of the Museum of Alexandria. Scholars assume that Hero taught there as well.
Computations known as Heron’s algorithm (for determining the square root of a number), and Heron’s formula (for finding the area of a triangle when its side lengths are known) came from the ancient mathematician’s analytical mind.
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