Ctesibius (redirected from Ctebisius of Alexandria)

Ctesibius (tĭsĭb`ēəs), fl. 2d cent. B.C., Alexandrian Greek inventor. He reputedly was the first to discover and apply the expansive power of air as a motive force. Among the inventions ascribed to him are a water clock (clepsydra), a hydraulic organ, and a force pump.

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Ctesibius 

Lived circa second to first century B.C. Greek engineer and inventor from Alexandria.

Ctesibius invented the two-cylinder piston fire pump equipped with inlet and delivery valves, an equalizing air chamber, and a double-arm lever for manual operation. His pump had all the details of modern hand-operated fire pumps. The water clock invented by Ctesibius transmitted the motion of a rising float to an indicator, which showed the time on a scale by means of moving figures or by audible signals. Information about Ctesibius was preserved in the papers of Hero of Alexandria and the Roman architect Vitruvius.

REFERENCE

Beck, T. Ocherki po istorii mashinostroeniia, vol. 1. Moscow-Leningrad, 1933. (Translated from German.)