Theater of Machines, Volume 4

force, Archimedes brought exceedingly large stone rocks onto the city walls through his instruments and threw many ships to the ground with them. But when Marcellus retreated with the remaining ships far from the city into the sea, out of range of a crossbowman, Archimedes burned many ships for him with artificial fire-mirrors through the heat of the sun, so that they all perished together with the people in them.

Ctesibius.

After him, Ctesibius the glorious mathematician, a barber's son from Alexandria, also invented many wonderful things, especially in water-works. Following him came Heron, Pappus, Proclus, Euclid, Vitruvius, and very Heron. Pappus. Proclus. Euclid. Vitruvius. many others, which would be too long to recount. But also afterwards, right up to our times, this noble art has flourished not a little: but especially our Germans have The Germans' mechanical inventions. earned great fame above all other peoples because of mechanics, in that gunpowder weapons were invented by them around the year of Christ 1380, as also the printing press in the year 1440, which are two mechanical inventions so glorious that it is not to be expressed sufficiently. Thus, the Germans have also invented many other things belonging to this mechanical art, such as the mighty breaking-screws with which one throws down entire towers, the pressing-works for minting, many effective ingenious lifting- and pulling-tools, the small artful clock-making, the glorious inlaid carpentry, the turning- and casting-works in mines, etc. One needs only to look at the single city of Nuremberg—I pass over all the others—what countless machines and instruments useful for all kinds of arts has it invented thus far? Therefore, it is so famous throughout the whole world, and its inventions are carried into the farthest Indies and the New World.