All language subtitles for Ancient Top 10 Series 1 6of9 Ancient Greek Tech 720p

male narrator: This week
on "Ancient Top 10,"

the world's first robot,
2,000 years ago...

- There was actually a robot
that existed in ancient Greece.

narrator: An incredible
ancient death ray...

[high-pitched humming,
flames whoosh]

- This really sounds like
something from the Space Age.

narrator: Genius that could
make water defy gravity...

- We wouldn't see
anything like this

until the 19th century.

They were so far
ahead of their time.

narrator: And full steam
ahead--

it's ancient steam power.

- Technology so advanced
that it boggles the mind

this is from ancient times.

narrator: Where will
they be ranked

on the only top ten show

thousands of years
in the making?

[exciting music]

♪ ♪

Western civilization began
in ancient Greece.

[shields clang]

It was home
to the great philosophers,

and it was
the first civilization

to introduce voting,

giving birth to democracy,

but the Greeks were
also brilliant inventors.

- The Greeks are definitely

the fathers
of modern democracy,

but what you might not know
is that that reasoning ability

put them thousands of years
ahead of everybody else

regarding their inventions
and technology,

and that changed the world.

narrator: The ancient Greeks
were ancient geeks,

and they made all kinds
of high-tech advances

that weren't then reinvented
until modern times.

[engines whirring, whistling]

This week's "Ancient Top 10:

Ancient Greek Tech"--

the most sophisticated
Greek gadgets,

ranked according to
how advanced they were.

[metallic clang]

And coming in at number ten--

not exactly
the holiest of holies,

but it might be the world's
first vending machine.

[exciting music]

- It's incredible to think
that the Greeks had something

as modern as vending machines.

But it's true.
They did.

And we're talking
2,000 years ago.

narrator: Today, vending
machines are everywhere.

There are currently more
vending machines in Japan

than there are people
in New Zealand,

but, amazingly, this seemingly
modern device was first created

by an ancient Greek genius,

and it was in the most
unlikely of places...

♪ ♪

A temple.

- In ancient times,
temples had to make money,

so they had to come up
with ingenious ways

to separate people
from their cash.

♪ ♪

- Competing temples would do
everything they could

to try and draw in the crowds

and take their money,

and one of the best ways
to do this

was to showcase

impressive spectacles
of magical devices

so that it seemed like the gods
favored your temple the most.

♪ ♪

narrator: The priests
paid inventors

to make magical devices
for them,

and one of the best inventors
was Heron of Alexandria.

♪ ♪

The city of Alexandria
in Egypt

was at the time
ruled over by Greeks

and had become the center
of their commercial

and scientific world.

- Alexandria at the time

was this hotbed
of learning and ideas.

A teacher named Heron
worked there,

teaching physics
and mathematics,

and he had a very special
skill set as an inventor,

which was highly in demand
at the time,

and he was always willing to
make a little bit on the side.

narrator: Heron came up
with something so modern

it had to be
in our top ten list--

the vending machine.

- You popped in a coin,

and out came in return
a cup of holy water.

narrator: How was this
ancient marvel possible?

- Someone would put
a coin inside the slot.

The coin would
fall onto a plate,

and the weight of the coin
on the plate

would open a valve.

narrator: As the plate tipped,
the coin would slide off of it,

closing the valve again.

This meant that
a precise amount

of holy water
could be dispensed each time.

- As an inventor,
there's nothing more thrilling

than seeing someone's reaction
to one of your creations,

but can you imagine,
back in the time

of the ancient Greeks,
going to a temple,

already being in awe of
all the architecture there,

and then seeing something
like a vending machine?

They must have thought
it was the work of the gods.

- This is a vending machine,

but all the way back
in the 1st century A.D.,

and the principle is still
the same as we use today.

♪ ♪

narrator: Heron made all kinds

of automatic inventions,

such as a mechanical archer

who could shoot his arrow

at a miniature dragon.

He made model dancers
dancing around a fire.

And he made a brass horse

that appeared
to actually drink water.

All this was done
with air, water,

and complicated
levers and valves,

but to amazed onlookers,
it was all magic,

and there was no greater magic
than the vending machine.

A refreshing twist
on technology,

it was the grandfather
of today's vending machines,

what many people would think of
as a 20th-century invention.

But next in our countdown

is history's first powerlifter,

giving one man
the strength of hundreds.

At number nine...

[exciting music]

The block and tackle.

- The block and tackle
may not be

the most glamorous invention
on this list,

but you can't underestimate
the impact

that this small device
had on the world.

narrator: The block and tackle
was so advanced

that the famous
astronomer Galileo

called its inventor,
Archimedes, superhuman.

He has gone down in history

as one of the greatest
minds of all time.

- "Genius" is rather
an overused term,

but there is no doubt
that Archimedes was a genius.

He was a mathematician.

He was a scientist.
He was an inventor.

He was a creator.

And he didn't just change
the ancient world.

He changed ours too.

♪ ♪

- Most people know Archimedes

as the man who jumped up naked

out of the bath
shouting "Eureka"

after he discovered
the laws of buoyancy,

when, in reality, he was
actually a brilliant scientist,

and one of his most
famous inventions

is known as
the block and tackle.

narrator: Before the block
and tackle of Archimedes,

lifting heavy weights
depended on pure muscle power.

To lift one ton
would take 40 men.

Archimedes knew that using
a pulley made it much easier

to lift a heavy weight,

but he then worked out

that using two joined together

made it twice as easy.

- The block and tackle,
it's an amazing invention.

It's a series of pulleys
that allows someone to lift

far more than they would
be able to normally,

and it's still in use today.

narrator: The weight
becomes divided

between the number of ropes.

The more pulleys in the series,

the heavier the weight
that can be lifted.

- Using the block and tackle,
a simple but ingenious device,

one man can actually lift
a ton in weight.

♪ ♪

narrator: This experiment shows

that one man can lift
a family car

with just four pulleys
linked together.

- The story goes that
this invention

was so revolutionary,

Archimedes used
the block and tackle

to singlehandedly

pull a whole ship
to the shore.

♪ ♪

- There's no proof
to that story,

but looking at
the simple mechanics,

in theory it could be true.

- What is certain is that
this revolutionary invention

had captured
men's imaginations.

♪ ♪

narrator: A lever uses
a similar principle.

The longer the lever,
the less force is needed.

In fact, Archimedes said that,

with a lever long enough,

one man could lift
the weight of the Earth.

♪ ♪

Since its invention
over 2,000 years ago,

the block and tackle
has been in use continually.

♪ ♪

- The critical thing
to remember

about the invention
of block and tackle

is it allowed one machine
to do the work of 100 men,

and this has a profound impact
on the story of civilization.

It allows us as humans

to create whole new worlds.

♪ ♪

narrator: Archimedes' invention
reached into the future

and pulled the ancient
world forward.

♪ ♪

But now, spinning in
at number eight,

a totally revolutionary
gadget...

[exciting music]

It's the gimbal,

the ancient ancestor
of the modern-day gyroscope.

♪ ♪

In the 3rd century B.C.,

a genius inventor was living
in the Greek city of Byzantium.

He was called Philon
or Philo Mechanicus,

because when it came
to mechanics

he was centuries
ahead of his time.

Philon invented advanced pieces
of technology,

such as an automatic
mechanical crossbow.

He was the first
person in history

to accurately describe
the scientific principles

behind a water mill.

He also worked out
how to project huge missiles

from a catapult.

[wood creaking]

[projectile whooshing]

But his most revolutionary
invention?

An inkpot.

♪ ♪

Believe it or not,

the technology behind
Philon's inkpot

keeps us safe
in the skies today.

How?

It's coming up next
on "Ancient Top 10."

♪ ♪

And what can possibly
be our number one

ancient Greek invention?

[exciting music]

♪ ♪

narrator: Welcome back
to "Ancient Top 10:

Greek Tech"--

incredible ancient Greek
technology

ranked by experts

according to
how advanced they were.

We're at number eight,

and it's a revolutionary inkpot

invented by
Philon of Byzantium.

Philon taught at the famous
library in Alexandria in Egypt,

which was the center
of learning

in the ancient world.

It was here where he invented
this extraordinary gadget.

It was a neat
little party trick:

a device that stays level
whichever way you turn it.

It's now known as a gimbal.

- The gimbal was first invented
to stabilize an inkpot.

So whichever way
around it was twisted,

the ink would never spill out.

It was a really simple,
really effective design.

narrator: The inkpot had
eight holes in eight sides,

and you could dip your quill
in any of them.

Within the device was
super-advanced technology,

a series of suspended rings
attached to each other

but free to rotate.

Gravity held
the ink bowl level,

so any way you turned it,

the ink bowl
was facing upwards.

- Philon was a genius inventor.

His eight-sided inkpot
was the precursor

to the modern-day gimbal.

[engine purring]

- The gimbal is still
being used today

in very high-tech
pieces of kit,

which just goes to show
how far in advance

of its time it really was.

narrator: A modern-day
ship's compass still uses

the principles behind Philon's
ancient creation,

and this invention
is still in use

in the skies
all over the world.

It's the basis of
an airplane's gyroscope,

which shows a level horizon
to the pilot.

Whichever way the plane turns,
the gyroscope keeps level.

At night or in
poor visibility,

it's the most important
instrument in the cockpit,

and NASA's most
advanced spacecraft

all use this technology
in much the same way.

- Amazingly, this technolo t
is a high-flying marvel,

but the next invention
on our list

is also in use today

all across the globe.

It's gravity-defying
ancient genius.

Coming in at number seven,

it's that "eureka" man again,
Archimedes.

[exciting music]

It's the Archimedes screw.

- The Archimedes screw allows
people to draw water uphill,

and this is
over 2,000 years ago.

It's incredible.

♪ ♪

narrator: In ancient times,

agriculture, industry,

and the growth of towns
and cities

all depended on controlling
the flow of water.

It was crucial.

♪ ♪

Great efforts were taken
to divert rivers,

build dams and canals,

and to lift water
from one level to another.

♪ ♪

So when Archimedes
invented a way

of making water flow uphill,

it was truly transforming.

♪ ♪

- The Archimedes screw
was a tube

with a helicoid, or screw,
in the center.

♪ ♪

When hand-cranked or turned
by some sort of wind power,

this draws water up
from the bottom

through the screw

and out through
the other side.

[screw squeaking]

This was
a revolutionary invention.

narrator: For the ancients,

water flowing uphill
was a wonder to behold.

It seemed to go against
all the laws of nature,

but this was no party trick.

This simple invention
had huge implications.

And because of its simplicity,

it could be applied
to many different uses.

- The Archimedes screw
is an incredible innovation.

It's been used
on everything from irrigation

to bilge pumps on ships.

narrator: Bilge pumps
are used to pump water

out of the hold of a ship.

They're crucial
for long voyages.

Christopher Columbus couldn't
have sailed the Atlantic

if his ships hadn't been
fitted with bilge pumps.

♪ ♪

And there's even evidence
that the Archimedes screw

was used onboard
the biggest ship

of ancient Greece,
the "Syracusia."

It was the world's
first cruise ship.

- It was the most
luxurious passenger ship

that had ever been built.

It was filled
with paintings and statues,

bronze bathtubs,

even irrigated flowerbeds.

narrator: And who
was it designed by?

Of course, Archimedes.

And it might well have been
kept afloat

by an Archimedes screw.

- It's possible that Archimedes
invented his famous screw

as a fundamental solution

to pumping water
out of the "Syracusia."

It's amazing that this
mega-ship

could have been powered
by one man

using the bilge pump
to keep this boat afloat.

♪ ♪

narrator: With bilge pumps,
ships could travel further,

and the ancient world expanded.

♪ ♪

Archimedes screws were also
used in ancient mines

to draw water to the surface

to stop the mines
from flooding.

There's an example here,

the ancient Roman mine

at Rio Tinto
in the south of Spain.

Here, they built incredible
underground waterwheels

to lift floodwater
from one level to another,

and at the top, in the last
part of the process,

they used an Archimedes screw

to get the water
to the surface.

- We still use
the Archimedes screw today.

As well as being used
to move water uphill,

it's also used in
the hydroelectric industry,

where the design is reversed.

Water flows downwards
through the screw,

turning it
and generating electricity.

narrator: And there's
a royal twist to the story.

This is Windsor Castle
in England.

It's one of the main residences
of the Queen of England,

and most of the power
of the castle comes from here,

the River Thames,

thanks to these
inverted Archimedes screws.

[water rushing]

And it's been used on a much,
much larger scale too.

A great deal of the Netherlands

was previously below sea level

and therefore flooded.

- How did Holland reclaim
all that land from the sea?

They used the Archimedes screw.

This thing built a country.

narrator: And on a much,
much smaller scale--

- No pulse?
No problem.

The Archimedes screw
or screw pump

is used today
in modern medicine

to maintain steady
blood flow in patients

with acute heart failure.

How amazing is that?

Coming up, did the Greeks

really invent
the world's first fire engines?

[water spraying]

And stop the clock.

A water machine so amazing,

you'll wonder
if you've time traveled

back to the future.

[exciting music]

♪ ♪

narrator: Welcome back
to our top ten

ancient Greek tech.

And at number six
in our list

of technological wizardry

is something that has saved

entire cities
from the flames...

[exciting music]

The water pump.

- Even just 200 years ago,

we were putting out fires

by passing buckets of water
down the line.

But the ancient Greeks
knew a thing or two.

They had their own equivalent

of the modern-day
fire extinguisher

thousands of years ago.

narrator: Remarkably, the power

behind the pump
was compressed air.

In the modern world,

compressed air is used
all around us.

It's in the tires of our cars,

and it's what drives
many modern-day power tools.

- Compressed-air power tools

used to change the tires
on racing cars

revolve at between 10,000
and 15,000 RPM.

[power tools buzzing, humming]

This is super-high-tech,
modern technology.

narrator: But as incredible
as it may seem,

there is nothing modern
about pneumatics.

The ancients were there first.

The father of pneumatics--
Ctesibius,

an extraordinary Greek inventor

from the 3rd century B.C.

and a contemporary of Philon

at the library in Alexandria.

- Ctesibius was a genius.

He was the first one to realize

that air was actually
a substance,

so he's rightly known
as the father of pneumatics.

narrator: Ctesibius
was the son of a barber,

and one of his first
inventions was a mirror

that could be raised up
and down to help with shaving.

The mirror had
a lead counterweight,

and Ctesibius noticed
the noise of air

as it escaped back
into the casing

around the lead weight.

Listening to this noise
of escaping air,

he had the remarkable
revelation

that air had mass
and pressure.

narrator: The result was
the world's first water pump.

- A directed jet of water
was something new and amazing.

There had never been anything
like this anywhere before,

and it was portable.

narrator: This was the world's
first fire engine.

It was rushed around
the ancient city

of Alexandria
over 2,000 years ago,

but how did it work?

- As you press down the handle
of the water pump,

compressed air is forced
onto the surface of the water,

which drives the water
through a series of pipes

and out through
the nozzle at high speed.

narrator: There are two pistons
and a central chamber.

Valves stop the water

flowing back
out of the chamber.

When one piston
is drawing water in,

the other is pushing water out
through the nozzle.

- You could put it on a cart

and take it absolutely
anywhere,

as long as there was
standing water.

narrator: A portable
water pump such as this

wasn't then reinvented
for 1,500 years.

[siren wailing]

♪ ♪

The ancients had
super-advanced engineering

that wouldn't be out of place
in our modern world.

Up next is another invention
of Ctesibius

that wouldn't be bettered
for 1,800 years.

It was the most accurate clock
of the ancient world,

and it was powered
entirely by water,

centuries ahead of its time.

At number five...

[exciting music]

The water clock.

- Astonishingly, this clock,

made over 2,000 years ago,

runs continuously,

24 hours a day,

365 days of the year,

and not a battery in sight.

narrator:
In the modern world,

telling the time
is taken for granted.

We live our lives by it,

but time was important
to the ancients too.

In the courts of
ancient Greece, for example,

each witness was given
a set amount of time to speak.

A set length of time
could be measured

by the time it took for water

to run out of a bucket.

It's a fixed duration
that's always the same,

but this couldn't
tell the time.

It was more like an egg timer.

Then came Ctesibius.

He created a water clock
so accurate

that it could actually
tell the time.

He adapted an existing
Greek water clock

to make something
truly extraordinary.

- Ctesibius' genius
is that he refines it

using hydraulics
so that this becomes

an incredibly accurate
time-keeping machine,

and his prototype
would be in use

for close on 1,000 years.

♪ ♪

narrator: This is an accurate
working model of his clock.

It all works by flowing water.

Water goes in one end,

and at the other end
a marker slowly rises,

showing the time.

Ctesibius knew that to give

an accurate measurement
of time passing,

he needed a continuous
flow of water.

But water flows out of
a container quicker and quicker

as the height
of the water goes down.

♪ ♪

So he came up
with the great idea

of having two water chambers,

and the first
is always full.

There's a continuous flow
of water into it

with an overflow
pipe at the top.

Then this feeds
into a second chamber.

The water in the second chamber

then rises at a steady rate,

and time can be
measured accurately

for the duration of that rise.

- Ctesibius fitted a siphon
to his water clock.

This is the first
recorded incidence

we have of that happening,

and it meant that
the clock could empty

and then refill itself
automatically.

So basically he's inventing

a kind of intelligent machine.

narrator: A siphon allows
water to flow upward

so long as its
final destination

is at a lower level.

It was super-advanced
hydraulics,

and it meant that the clock
ran continuously,

time after time.

- Ctesibius' water clock
was so precise

that it adjusted itself
automatically

to changes
in seasonal daylight hours,

which is absolutely incredible.

narrator: By a complicated
series of cogs,

the rising water of the clock
raised an arrow on a marker

which had hour lines
that grew further,

then closer apart,

and for nearly 2,000 years,

it was the most accurate
clock in the world.

♪ ♪

We're over halfway in our
"Ancient Top 10" countdown

of the most advanced
ancient Greek technology.

♪ ♪

Coming up,

death rays
and robots--

- You talking to me?

narrator: Science fiction?

It's science fact.

[wood creaking]

And what will be

our "Ancient Greek Tech"
number one?

[exciting music]

♪ ♪

narrator: Welcome back
to "Ancient Top 10:

Greek Tech," our countdown

of the most advanced
ancient Greek technology,

astonishing machines
and gadgets

and colossal
engineering advances.

At number ten, as if by magic,

an ancient vending machine.

Number nine was
the block and tackle

doing the heavy lifting.

Number eight was
the technological marvel

the gimbal.

And number seven,
still in use today,

the Archimedes screw.

At number six
was the water pump,

and clocking in at number five,

the water clock.

Next in our countdown
is an invention more advanced

than any we've seen so far,

and it's something
truly deadly.

Coming in at number four...

[exciting music]

It's the death ray.

- Beams of light shooting down
and burning ships:

this really sounds like
something from the Space Age.

But this was an ancient
super-weapon.

narrator:
In the 3rd century B.C.,

the might of the ancient Greeks
was being challenged

by a new up-and-coming power
in the Mediterranean:

Rome.

Syracuse, the Greek colony
on Sicily,

was coming under attack.

But Syracuse was the home
of Archimedes.

- Up until now, Greeks have
really controlled the world,

but the Romans are
new big players on the block,

and Archimedes has to come up
with a big invention

to try to match their might.

narrator: Archimedes
had already invented

some devastating war machines.

- He was known
as the great geometer,

the master, the wise one,

and he came up with all sorts
of amazing inventions.

narrator: Such as a cannon
powered by steam...

[explosion]

And a claw that could
rip enemy ships from the sea.

♪ ♪

Today, the U.S. navy
has laser weapon systems.

They're called
directed energy weapons.

But Archimedes was there first
by over 2,000 years.

[explosion]

- The story goes that Archimedes

was able to burn
a fleet of Roman ships

using only the power of the Sun

and nothing more than mirrors.

♪ ♪

- We're told that Archimedes
used the power of the Sun

and reflected it back
onto the Roman boats,

which then caught fire

till the whole fleet
was in flames.

[flames roar and crackle]

narrator: There is
written evidence

that there was
such a weapon,

a solar-powered death ray.

Ancient sources have claimed
that the ancient lighthouse

at Alexandria,
the mighty Pharos,

also used mirrors
to make a death ray.

This was to protect its harbor
from enemy ships.

One lens or mirror
at the top revolved

to catch the sunlight,

which was reflected down
to a second mirror.

This could be turned
as well to aim

a devastating beam of light.

It may have been inspired

by the deadly weapon
of Archimedes.

This Renaissance painting
shows the death ray

at Syracuse
as one giant mirror.

♪ ♪

But there is another theory.

In Syracuse at that time,

there were plenty of
smaller mirrors on hand.

- The defending soldiers
had highly polished shields

of copper or bronze

that were also concave.

And in theory, Archimedes

could have used these
to reflect the Sun's rays.

♪ ♪

narrator: How many
bronze shields

would it take
to burn one Roman ship?

We now know the answer.

- The ignition point of wood
is over 700 degrees Fahrenheit.

Modern calculations show
that you'd need

200 to 300 shields
working together

to set a ship ablaze.

narrator: With an army
of over 20,000 soldiers,

Syracuse would easily
have had that many shields.

- We don't know whether
Archimedes' death ray

was ever actually used,

but it is a really clever
psychological weapon.

- We're not sure
exactly how

he made this super-weapon,

but we can be sure
it was thousands of years

ahead of its time.

No one else had any kind
of laser or death ray

to burn ships.

This was truly spectacular
ancient technology.

♪ ♪

narrator: Other Greek
inventions went on to do

amazing things
with air and water,

but this solar-powered
death ray

was manipulating light--

20th-century technology--
in ancient times.

[explosion]

Still to come, could something
as advanced as robotics

possibly have been invented
thousands of years ago?

It's coming up
on "Ancient Top 10."

[exciting music]

♪ ♪

narrator: This is
"Ancient Top 10's" countdown

of the most advanced technology

from ancient Greece.

We've now reached
the top three,

and it's time to brace yourself

for something mind-blowing...

[exciting music]

Ancient robotics.

- You talking to me?

narrator: Robotics
sounds so modern.

It used to be science fiction.

It's incredible to think
that robots are nothing new.

In fact, they're ancient.

- The father of robotics
is not who you think it is.

It's not actually
a modern-day scientist

but, in fact,
it's an ancient Greek,

over 2,000 years ago.

♪ ♪

narrator: It was that
mechanical genius,

Philon of Byzantium.

As well as being
the inventor of the gimbal,

he is the father of robotics.

Philon taught himself
all about hydraulics

and compressed air by studying
the inventions of Ctesibius

such as the water pump
and the water clock,

but then he took things
one stage further.

He was the first man
in history to make a robot.

- Believe it or not,
there was actually

a robot that existed
in ancient Greece.

It was built to look
like a serving maid,

and it performed
a very simple human task.

narrator: This ancient robot
could pour a glass of wine,

astonishing guests
at an ancient dinner party.

- Imagine walking into
a lavish dinner party

and being told
to place your cup

in the hand
of an odd-looking statue.

Then the statue would be

pouring out
and filling your cup.

And that, to me, is just
absolutely mind-blowing.

♪ ♪

A humanoid figure
built to perform a task

automatically:
well, that, in itself,

is the definition of a robot.

♪ ♪

narrator: It was all done
by a series of valves

and changing air pressure
inside,

set in motion
by movement of the cup

as it filled with wine.

- The weight of that cup
would lower the hand,

setting off a series of complex
mechanics within the body,

and then this would pour out

equal measures
of water and wine,

which is exactly how the Greeks
liked to drink it.

♪ ♪

narrator: The movement
of the arm

led to the release of the wine.

And then, when the goblet
reaches an exact weight,

the wine valve closed
and the water valve opened.

- I'd love to go back in time

and be poured a goblet of wine
by Philon's robot.

However amazed those guests
would have been,

they'd have had no idea

just how much they were
looking into the future.

narrator: Most of
Philon's work

has been lost to history.

Tragically, a fire started
in the 1st century B.C.

burnt much of
the Library of Alexandria.

We can only imagine

what super-advanced
technological insights

it might have contained.

We're into the top two
of our countdown

of the most advanced
ancient Greek technology.

We've seen all manner
of machines

that would amaze us
if we came across them today.

However, our number two
is something

we're all familiar with...

[exciting music]

Automatic doors.

- When automatic doors
were first introduced

in the 20th century,
it was like magic.

People were left wondering,
how on Earth did they work?

It was something
from science fiction.

narrator: Automatic doors
were the future.

But the unbelievable truth
is that, yet again,

ancient Greek technology
was there first.

This is Ephesus
in modern-day Turkey.

It was home
to an ancient Greek temple

that had huge doors
that opened automatically.

There are the indentations
in the ground rock

where they opened.

- Of course,
behind the magic of the doors

is ancient technology,

a technology so advanced
it boggles the mind

this is from ancient times.

♪ ♪

narrator: This was technology

masquerading as divine magic.

♪ ♪

It was the work
of the same genius

behind the vending machine,
Heron of Alexandria,

the master of temple wizardry.

How did they work?

The temple priest lit a fire.

The fire heated
a tank of air underneath.

The expanding hot air
pushed through

into a second tank of water,

forcing the water through
a pipe into a bucket.

♪ ♪

Heron may well have been
the first to understand

that heating air
caused it to expand.

♪ ♪

The weight of the water
gradually lowered the bucket,

which was attached by ropes
and pulleys to the doors.

The doors then
automatically opened.

It was as if the gods
were opening them,

narrator: When the fire
was extinguished,

the air beneath would cool,

drawing the water back
the way it had come,

and the doors would
magically close again.

- It's ancient technology,
but it's so far advanced,

it's incredible to think

that it's almost
2,000 years old.

narrator: We've had hydraulics,
pneumatics, robotics,

incredible high-tech inventions
from ancient Greece,

but number one
is still to come.

2,000 years ahead of its time,

it held within it

the power to change
the course of history,

and it will make
your mind spin.

[exciting music]

♪ ♪

narrator: Welcome back
to the finale

of our top ten
ancient countdown.

We've reached the very top
in our list

of amazing ancient Greek tech.

At number ten, we saw
an ancient vending machine.

♪ ♪

Number nine:

the transforming
block and tackle.

♪ ♪

Number eight was the
ahead-of-its-time gimbal.

♪ ♪

And number seven:

the groundbreaking
Archimedes screw.

♪ ♪

At number six was
the fire-fighting water pump.

♪ ♪

And at number five,

the Big Ben
of the ancient world:

the water clock.

♪ ♪

Number four was
the space-age death ray.

♪ ♪

And at number three,
unbelievably, ancient robotics.

♪ ♪

Number two,
technological wizardry:

the first automatic doors.

So what can possibly be
our number one?

What have our experts
and historians chosen

as the ancient Greek technology

that can beat all else?

Amazingly, the ancient world

had its very own
steam engine.

[exciting music]

The aeolipile,
also known as the steam ball.

- It's a rotating copper ball,

but it rotates at 1,500 RPM.

That's three times the speed
of helicopter blades.

narrator: This is an aeolipile.

It means "ball of wind"
in Greek.

♪ ♪

Why it was invented
is still a mystery,

but it is the greatest,
most incredible example

of all ancient technology.

It is the world's first
steam engine.

- The aeolipile was
the fastest rotating object

in the ancient world,

powered by steam.

♪ ♪

- Because this technology
wouldn't be rediscovered

for another 2,000 years,

the steam ball has got to be
our number one pick.

- The fact that the ancients
had this form of power,

this steam power,

it--it boggles the mind.

We wouldn't see anything like
this until the 19th century.

They were so far ahead
of their time,

centuries ahead of their time.

narrator: The aeolipile
was made by the genius

behind the vending machine

and the automatic doors,

Heron of Alexandria.

He was the master
of miraculous machines

that pushed technology
to the limits.

It's possible that
this was invented

as a party trick or a device

to show off Heron's genius
to potential patrons.

For the automatic doors,

Heron used expanding
hot air as a source of power,

but he realized
that the steam he could see

when boiling water
must be a substance, too,

and potentially
a hugely powerful one.

This was remarkable insight,

a scientific "eureka" moment

that didn't occur
to anyone else

until the 18th century.

Heron's design was ingenious.

He made an airtight cauldron
and filled it with water.

Two pipes connected the
cauldron to a sealed ball

that was free to spin
under its own stem.

- As the water's heated,
it creates steam,

and that steam escapes
through two nozzles

that are facing
in different directions,

forcing the ball round
at incredible speed.

- A forward force generated

by a concentrated spurt
in the opposite direction:

now, that's the same principle
behind jet propulsion.

♪ ♪

- The potential force
of that spin,

if put into some useful
machinery--well,

it could have changed history.

[machinery whirring]

narrator: Today,
high-pressure steam

is used in the most
advanced machines,

and Heron was there first.

♪ ♪

- This is actually
the technology

that powered
the industrial revolution.

And can you imagine
where we would be today

if the Greeks had realized

what kind of power
they held in their hands?

♪ ♪

narrator: We are left
wondering,

what if future generations
had gone on

to develop this
super-advanced technology?

Where would we be today?

[triumphant music]

♪ ♪

So much of our modern world
has been influenced

by the ingenuity
of the ancient Greeks.

Incredible scientific insights,

astonishing inventions.

The technology of
ancient Greece was so advanced,

it wouldn't be matched
for centuries to come.

Over 2,000 years later,

it's a wealth of
technological know-how

that we are still
rediscovering.