Ctesibius(redirected from Ctesibius 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.
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.