Editing Timeline of historic inventions (section)

====3rd century BC====
[[File:Making Paper 4.PNG|thumb|140px|right|An illustration depicting the papermaking process in Han dynasty China.]]
* '''3rd century BC:''' [[Analog computer]]s in the Hellenistic world (see e.g. the [[Antikythera mechanism]]), possibly in [[Rhodes]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Harry Henderson|title=Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Tla6d153uwC&pg=PA13|access-date=28 May 2013|date=1 January 2009|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-1003-5|page=13|quote=The earliest known analog computing device is the Antikythera mechanism.}}</ref>
* '''By at least the 3rd century BC:''' [[Archimedes' screw]], one of the earliest [[hydraulic]] machines, was first used in the Nile river for irrigation purposes in [[Ancient Egypt]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Archimedes' Screw |url=http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/Fluids/Archimedes_Screw/Archimedes_Screw.html |website=Kenyon |access-date=11 July 2018}}</ref>
* '''Early 3rd century BC:''' [[Lock (water transport)|Canal lock]] in [[Canal of the Pharaohs]] under [[Ptolemy II]] (283–246 BC) in [[Hellenistic Egypt]]<ref>Moore, Frank Gardner (1950): "Three Canal Projects, Roman and Byzantine", ''[[American Journal of Archaeology]]'', Vol. 54, No. 2, pp.&nbsp;97–111 (99–101)</ref><ref>Froriep, Siegfried (1986): "Ein Wasserweg in Bithynien. Bemühungen der Römer, Byzantiner und Osmanen", ''Antike Welt'', 2nd Special Edition, pp.&nbsp;39–50 (46)</ref><ref>Schörner, Hadwiga (2000): "Künstliche Schiffahrtskanäle in der Antike. Der sogenannte antike Suez-Kanal", ''Skyllis'', Vol. 3, No. 1, pp.&nbsp;28–43 (33–35, 39)</ref>
* '''3rd century BC:''' [[Cam (mechanism)|Cam]] during the [[Hellenistic period]], used in water-driven [[automata]].<ref>[[Andrew Wilson (classical archaeologist)|Wilson, Andrew]] (2002): "Machines, Power and the Ancient Economy", ''[[The Journal of Roman Studies]]'', Vol. 92, pp.&nbsp;1–32 (16) {{JSTOR|3184857}}</ref>
* '''By the 3rd century BC:''' [[Water wheel]]. The origin is unclear: Indian Pali texts dating to the 4th century BCE refer to the ''cakkavattaka'', which later commentaries describe as ''arahatta-ghati-yanta'' (machine with wheel-pots attached). Helaine Selin suggests that the device existed in Persia before 350 BC.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Selin |first1=Helaine |title=Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Westen Cultures |date=2013 |publisher=[[Springer Science & Business Media]] |isbn=9789401714167 |page=282 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GzjpCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA282}}</ref> The clearest description of the water wheel and [[Escapement#Liquid-driven escapements|Liquid-driven escapement]] is provided by [[Philo of Byzantium]] (c. 280 – 220 BC) in the Hellenistic kingdoms.<ref>[[John Peter Oleson|Oleson, John Peter]] (2000): "Water-Lifting", in: [[Örjan Wikander|Wikander, Örjan]]: "Handbook of Ancient Water Technology", Technology and Change in History, Vol. 2, Brill, Leiden, {{ISBN|90-04-11123-9}}, pp.&nbsp;217–302 (233)</ref>
* '''3rd century BC:''' [[Gimbal]] described by Philo of Byzantium<ref>{{cite book|first= Ernest Frank |last= Carter |title= Dictionary of Inventions and Discoveries |url= https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofinve00cart |url-access= registration |year= 1967 |page= [https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofinve00cart/page/74 74] | publisher= Philosophical Library}}</ref>
* '''Late 3rd century BC:''' [[Dry dock]] under [[Ptolemy IV]] (221–205 BC) in [[Hellenistic Egypt]]<ref>{{Citation | last = Oleson | first = John Peter | author-link = John Peter Oleson | title = Greek and Roman Mechanical Water-Lifting Devices: The History of a Technology | year = 1984 | publisher = University of Toronto Press | isbn = 90-277-1693-5 | page = 33}}</ref>
* '''3rd century BC – 2nd century BC:''' [[Blast furnace]] in [[History of China#Ancient China|Ancient China]]: The earliest discovered blast furnaces in China date to the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, although most sites are from the later [[Han dynasty]].<ref name="wagner 7 36 37 64 68"/><ref>Pigott (1999), 183–184.</ref>
[[File:Museum für Antike Schiffahrt, Mainz 02. Spritsail.jpg|thumb|The earliest [[fore-and-aft rig]]s, [[spritsails]], appeared in the 2nd century BC in the [[Aegean Sea]] on small Greek craft.<ref name="Casson 1995, 243–245">[[Lionel Casson|Casson, Lionel]] (1995): "Ships and Seamanship in the Ancient World", Johns Hopkins University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-8018-5130-8}}, pp.&nbsp;243–245</ref> Here a spritsail used on a [[Roman Empire|Roman]] merchant ship (3rd century AD).]]