water clocks:

any timepiece in which time is measured by the regulated flow of liquid into (inflow type) or out from (outflow type) a vessel where the amount is then measured.  The bowl-shaped outflow is the simplest form of a water clock and is known to have existed in Babylon and in Egypt around the 16th century BC.

 

clepsydra:

an ancient device for measuring time by the regulated flow of water or mercury through a small aperture

 

mathematical statics:

a branch of mechanics concerned with the analysis of loads (force and torque, or "moment") acting on physical systems that do not experience an acceleration but rather, are in static equilibrium with their environment.

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theory of conic sections:

a conic section is a curve obtained as the intersection of the surface of a cone with a plane; there are 3 types: the hyperbola, the parabola, and the ellipse.  They have been studied by the ancient Greek mathematicians, culminating in around 200 BC, when Apollonius of Perga undertook a systematic study of their properties.

 

dynamics:

the branch of applied mathematics, specifically classical mechanics, concerned with the study of forces and torques and their effect on motion (as opposed to kinematics, which studies the motion of objects without reference to its causes). Isaac Newton defined the fundamental physical laws which govern dynamics in physics, especially his second law of motion.  Newtonian mechanics is concerned with the set of physical laws describing the motion of bodies under the influence of a system of forces.

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theory of functions:

Real analysis (traditionally, the theory of functions of a real variable) is a branch of mathematical analysis dealing with the real numbers and real-valued functions of a real variable. In particular, it deals with the analytic properties of real functions and sequences, including convergence and limits of sequences of real numbers, the calculus of the real numbers, and continuity, smoothness and related properties of real-valued functions.

 

entelechy:

that which realizes what is merely potential; connected with Aristotle’s distinction between matter and form; he broke things into their elements as distinct from their form;  mere matter is not yet the real thing; it needs a certain form or essence or function to complete it.  In the case of a living organism, the sheer matter of the organism (viewed only as a synthesis of inorganic substances) can be distinguished from a certain function or inner activity, without which it would not be a living organism; this “soul” or “vital function” is what Aristotle called the entelechy.