Hero of Alexandria facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Hero (or Heron) of Alexandria (Greek: Ἥρων ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς) (c. 10–70 CE) was an ancient Greek mathematician and engineer. He lived and worked in Alexandria when Alexander the Great ruled. He is famous for his numerous contraptions and experiments. His geometrical works deal largely with problems on mensuration written in three books. Book 1 deals with the area of squares, rectangles, triangles, trapezoids,various other specialized quadrilateral , the regular polygons, circles, surfaces of cylinder, cones, spheres etc. Heron has derived the famous formula for the area of a triangle using its three sides.

Images for kids

  • Aeolipile illustration

    Hero's aeolipile

  • Heron's Windwheel

    Hero's wind-powered organ (reconstruction)


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Hero of Alexandria Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.