Hero of Alexandria, the Greek mathematician and engineer, was a figure not only of enormous importance for ancient technology, but also for the later traditions that drew on his work, according to Courtney Ann Roby, associate professor in Classics, Medieval Studies, and Science and Technology Studies. In a Chats in the Stacks  book talk Roby will discuss her new book, The Mechanical Tradition of Hero of Alexandria (Cambridge University Press, 2023) which presents Hero's key strategies for developing, solving, and contextualizing technical problems, as well as charting his influence on the later tradition of technical problem-solving which incorporates textual transformations like interpolation and translation, as well as transformation from text to artifact. 

This talk is hosted by Olin Library. Light refreshments will be served.