Hero of Alexandria was an ancient engineer & mathematician who was born in
10 AD and lived in the city of Alexandria, Roman Egypt. Hero developed many
inventions with his most famous examples including:



Hero's Engine
o This is the first known steam engine design and the engineering
drawings were developed almost two millenia before the industrial
revolution. The steam engine was known as the aeolipile. A later
version of the design took the nickname of Hero's engine.
The Fire Engine
The Wind Wheel
o Hero developed many novel designs for music and theatre, but this
device is the first known invention to harness windpower. Wind
power propelled the wheel padels (to the right of the diagram),
which activated a pump that played the organ (to the left of the
diagram).
Many of Hero's manuscripts and designs have been lost over time, but
some were preserved in Arab manuscripts. What manuscripts remain were
incorporated into a five volume series of designs in 1903.