Water, air and fire at work in Hero's machines
  Known as the Michanikos, Hero of Alexandria is considered the inventor of the world's first steam engine and of many other sophisticated devices. Here we discuss three of them as described in his book "Pneumatica". These machines, working with water, air and fire, are clear examples of the deep knowledge of fluid dynamics reached by the Hellenistic scientists. 
Amelia Carolina Sparavigna
physics.pop-ph physics.hist-ph