3092) THE AUTOMATIC MAIDSERVANT OF PHILO: The Bank of Greece has issued a 10 Euro ("10 ΕΥΡΩ") Silver Proof Coin featuring this unique Automaton (Robotic) invention of the 3rd Century BC: Date/Year of Coin issue: 2023:
The Bank of Greece has issued a 10 Euro (10 ΕΥΡΩ) Silver Proof Coin depicting the world’s first robot.
The Automate Therapaenis (Automatic Maid) was a 3rd c. BC technological miracle, which was the world’s first robot.
The maid was actually a life-sized doll holding an oenochoe (wine-jug) with its one hand, having the other hand free and extended to receive a drinking vessel.
The doll had a mechanism transferring wine and water from two pots interred in its body, to the jug she was holding, through tubes passing along her hand. Another set of tubes, going through her free hand and her body too, were there to enable pouring liquids by providing air. When somebody was placing a drinking vessel on her free hand, the wine (first) and the water (second) would come automatically from the wine-jug and they would stop once the drinking vessel was lifted.
This invention is described in the Pneumatics of Philo of Byzantium, a 3rd century BC engineer who lived in Alexandria.
It is an automaton (robot) in the form of a (life-size) maidservant holding a wine jug in her right hand. Inside the effigy were two tanks, one for wine and one for water (as the Greeks used to drink their wine diluted), and a mechanism consisting of liquid and air tubes.
By placing a cup on the extended left hand of the maidservant, the mechanism started to work. Air pressure pushed the liquids (first wine and then water) through the right arm into the jug and then into the cup, in the desired proportion. The automatic maidservant is the first known functional robot.
A replica of this mechanical ancient Greek miracle is to be found in the Museum of Ancient Greek Technology, in Katakolo Ileias, the Peloponnese, Greece.
More about Philo of Byzantium (c. 280 BC – c. 220 BC), also known as Philo Mechanicus (Latin for "Philo the Engineer"):
He was a Greek engineer, physicist and writer on mechanics, who lived during the latter half of the 3rd century BC. Although he was from Byzantium he lived most of his life in Alexandria, Egypt.
Philo was the author of a large work, the "Syntaxis".
The military sections Belopoeica and Poliorcetica are extant in Greek, detailing missiles, the construction of fortresses, provisioning, attack and defence, as are fragments of Isagoge and Automatopoeica.
Another portion of the work, on pneumatic engines, has been preserved in the form of a Latin translation (De Ingeniis Spiritualibus) of an Arabic translation.
The Philo line, a geometric construction that can be used to double the cube, is attributed to Philo.
Some other Devices:
According to recent research, a section of Philo's Pneumatics which so far has been regarded as a later Arabic interpolation, includes the first description of a water mill in history, placing the invention of the water mill in the mid-third century BC by the Greeks.
Philo's works also contain the oldest known application of a chain drive in a repeating crossbow. Two flat-linked chains were connected to a windlass, which by winding back and forth would automatically fire the machine's arrows until its magazine was empty.
Philo also was the first to describe a gimbal, an eight-sided ink pot that could be turned any way without spilling and expose the ink on top. This was done by the suspension of the inkwell at the centre, which was mounted on a series of concentric metal rings which remained stationary no matter which way the pot turns.
In his Pneumatics (chapter 31) Philo describes an escapement mechanism, the earliest known, as part of a washstand. A counterweighted spoon, supplied by a water tank, tips over in a basin when full releasing a pumice in the process.
Once the spoon has emptied, it is pulled up again by the counterweight, closing the door on the pumice by the tightening string. Remarkably, Philo's comment that "its construction is similar to that of clocks" indicates that such escapements mechanism were already integrated in ancient water clocks.
He is also credited with the construction of the first thermoscope (or Philo thermometer), an early version of the thermometer.
In mathematics, Philo tackled the problem of doubling the cube. The doubling of the cube was necessitated by the following problem, given a catapult, construct a second catapult that is capable of firing a projectile twice as heavy as the projectile of the first catapult.
His solution was to find the point of intersection of a rectangular hyperbola and a circle, a solution that is similar to the solution given by Hero of Alexandria several centuries later.
The Coin:
The 10 Euro (10 ΕΥΡΩ) Silver Proof Coin has been minted by the Hellenic Mint at their facilities in Athens on behalf of the Bank of Greece and has been designed by G. Stamatopoulos.
To the centre left of the depiction of Automatic Maid is the year of issue, "2023", and to the centre right is the distinctive mintmark of the Greek Mint, a "stylised palmette".
The Obverse of the 10 Euro (10 ΕΥΡΩ) Silver Proof Coin depicts stylised gears and wheels symbolising the frst automaton.
Above the depiction is the crest of the Hellenic Republic, and off-centred towards the left is the text "ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΔΗΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΑ" which is pronounced as "(H)ellenik(eh) Democratia" (meaning the "Greek Democracy").
Below the primary design is the denomination of "10 ΕΥΡΩ".
The specifications of the €10 ("10 ΕΥΡΩ") - Ten Euro) Coin are:
Country of issue: Hellenic Republic of Greece; Date/Year: 2023; Coin Theme: "Automate Therapaenis" (Automatic Maid); Denomination/Face Value: €10 (Ten Euro); Metal Composition: .925 Fineness Silver (Ag); Weight: 34.10 grams; Diameter/Size: 40.00 mm; Coin Quality: Proof (P); Mint: Mint of Greece, on behalf of the Bank of Greece; Mintage: 2000 pieces; Designer: G. Stamatopoulos.
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Rajan Trikha has commented:
ReplyDelete"Very unique invention".
Thank you, Trikha sahab.
DeleteSantosh Khanna has commented:
ReplyDelete"A VERY interesting and informative post. Thanks for sharing."
Thank you so much Khanna sahab.
Delete