The Pneumatics of Hero of Alexandria

in his Mechanics and in some other treatises of which Pappus makes mention in the 10th proposition of problem 6 of book 8. Whence one can say of him what Plutarch said of Archytas and Eudoxus, that they had transported mathematical contemplations from the soul, and from that intelligence which is proper to the mind, to the examples of corporeal and sensible things. And certainly one can say it deservedly, since, not content that Geometry should go about adorned only with arguments and demonstrations, he reduced it to use and practice. This was the reason that he was so much more acceptable to the world than other authors who teach the principles, rules, and precepts of art; just as the fruits of trees are much more savory and pleasing to the taste than the roots or the trunk of them. And let this suffice for the life of Hero, since in short, the lives of illustrious Mathematicians will come to light, described amply and with much diligence and study. Among them will be that of the present Author, where one will see gathered everything one could desire in such a person: the work of our Lord Bernardino Baldi, most worthy Abbot of Guastalla, of whose learning and excellence, besides the faith that the writings published by him up to the present provide, the others that he is still composing will provide even more.

A small decorative woodcut ornament featuring symmetrical floral or foliate scrolls.

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