Hydraulic Pumps of Agricola's De Re Metallica (1556)

These are the lucid and explicit statements made by Georgius Agricola in the preface to his De Re Metallica. Agricola is universally known for this book that, for the first time in the history of arts, offers a detailed and systematic treatment of mining engineering. The treatise is known primarily as a milestone in 16th century science and technology, as well as for its spectacular engravings. Agricola, born at Glauchau, Germany, on March 24, 1494, was a scholar with many interests. He lived in a period rich in important spiritual and scientific movements. Suffice it to mention humanism, which spread beyond the Alps thanks to Erasmus of Rotterdam, Luther's reformation, the battle fought by Paracelsus against arid bookish science, Vesalius' reform of anatomy, and the theories propounded by Copernicus, which revolutionized astronomy. Agricola, whose real name was Georg Bauer, studied philosophy and theology at the University of Leipzig.