Skip to main content

Secondary sourcePainting1916

Heron's Fountain Illustration from Physics for Entertainment

Yakov Perelman · 1916

A 1916 diagram explaining Heron's fountain, a self-powering water device attributed to Hero of Alexandria.

Depicts Heron's fountain, a device invented by Hero of Alexandria, as explained in a later science book.

Ask Hero of Alexandria about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Two line drawings of Heron's fountain from a 1913 Russian physics book. Left: a simplified fountain with a bowl a on top, tubes running down to bottles b and c, and a water jet rising from the bowl. Right: a version filled with mercury, with labels a, b, c, d1, d2, d3, and a dashed outline, and a tall jet rising above the bowl. Captions in Russian read Рис 54 and Рис 55.
Yakov Perelman, Heron's fountain illustration, Physics for Entertainment, 1916.

About this source

What it is

These two line drawings appear in Yakov Perelman's 1916 book Physics for Entertainment. They show Heron's fountain, a device with a bowl, connecting tubes, and containers that use air pressure to send a jet of water upward. One version shows a simple water-filled design; the other uses mercury.

Why it matters

Heron's fountain is one of several inventions credited to Hero of Alexandria that demonstrate his understanding of pressure and fluids. This illustration, made many centuries later, shows how later scientists used his ideas to teach physics concepts in an accessible way.

Look closer

  • Can you trace how water or mercury might move through the tubes shown in the diagram?
  • Why do you think the illustrator included two versions of the same device?
  • What might be missing from this simplified version compared to how an actual ancient fountain looked?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Hero of Alexandria on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Hero of Alexandria sources

Meet the AI Hero of Alexandria →
Manuscript page with Greek text in brown ink at top and bottom, and colored line drawings in the middle showing Hero's hydraulic bird-singing apparatus: several birds perched on pipes and arches, a tall cylindrical water vessel, a horizontal tank, and a bell-shaped weight on a chain.Book

Secondary source

Pneumatica

Hero of Alexandria · 1st century AD (this copy later)

Page from a Greek manuscript showing a colored line drawing of a temple-like structure with columns, arches, and a dome-like roof, with hidden tanks and mechanisms below. Greek handwritten text fills the lower part of the page.Book

Secondary source

Automata (Bacchus diagram)

Hero of Alexandria · 1st century AD (this copy later)

Painted miniature from a Greek manuscript: a bearded man with long grey hair in a golden-brown cloak extends his right hand toward the left, beside a dark archway. Red Greek lettering reads 'ΗΡΩΝ ΦΙΛΟΣΟΦΟ' beside him.Painting

Secondary source

Hero of Alexandria in the Codex of Saint Gregory Nazianzenos

Unknown author · 9th century AD

Illuminated manuscript page with colored design drawing of a large siege engine or cannon in red, blue, green and tan, with a vertical arrow-like beam at top, surrounded by Greek text in brown ink on parchment.Document

Secondary source

Belopoiika (design drawing of a siege engine)

Hero of Alexandria · 1st century AD (this copy later)

Title page of a 1589 Italian book, engraved in black and white with an ornate architectural border of columns, scrolls and a central medallion. Printed text reads Di Herone Alessandrino De gli automati, ouero Machine se moventi, libri due, tradotti dal greco da Bernardino Baldi, with a small shield reading In Venetia, appresso Girolamo Porro, 1589.Book

Secondary source

De gli automati, ouero Machine se mouenti

Hero : Alexandrinus · 1589

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Hero of Alexandria now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions