#automata #science #devices
The book named as the “book of ingenious devices” was a large illustrated work on mechanical devices, including automata which was published in 850 by three Iranian brothers known as the Banu Musa (Ahmad, Muhammad and Hasan bin Musa Shakir) which worked at the House of Wisdom in Baghdad under the Abbasid Caliphate.
The book was commissioned by the Abassid Caliph of Baghdad who instructed the Banu Musa to acquire all of the Hellenistic legacy that had been preserved by monasteries and scholars during the decline of Roman civilization.
The Banū Mūsā brothers invented a number of automata (automatic machines) and mechanical devices which are described in the book, many of them inspired by the works of Hero of Alexandria and Philo of Byzantium, as well as ancient Persian, Chinese and Indian engineers.
Some of the remarkable devices described at the book are valves, automatic fountains, musical automatons, tools, dispensers and crankshafts.
