Complete Extant Works of Hero of Alexandria, Vol. 2

INTRODUCTION.

I. ARABIC ACCOUNTS REGARDING HERO.

Concerning the era of Hero, one finds no information in Arabic sources, neither in biographical or bibliographical works, nor in the manuscripts of his Mechanics. The reasons that can be drawn from the Mechanics to judge or decide this "Heronian" question have been discussed by a qualified party in the first chapter of the preface to the first volume of this complete edition of Hero's works. Thus, we can pass over this controversial point here in order to briefly cite what the Arabs knew of Hero's writings. This should not appear redundant even after the appearance of Steinschneider's works on Arabic translations from the Greek, in which paragraph 132 is dedicated to Hero in the "Journal of the German Oriental Society" original: "Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft", Vol. L, p. 346, since some misunderstandings and inaccuracies are found in that section.

Hero is first mentioned in the Fihrist (Catalog) of Muhammed ibn Ishâk an-Nadîm, written in 987 AD, Vol. I, p. 269. The passage reads literally: Hero (Arabic ’Îran or ’Îron). He authored the following books:
1. The Book of the Solution of Doubts in Euclid.
2. The Book of Procedure with the Astrolabe.
3. The Book of Lifting Loads.
4. The Book of Pneumatic Machines.

Reference is also made to the first work in Fihrist I, p. 265, under Euclid in the entry for the "Elements," with the words: The doubts therein were solved by Hero.