At least one source credits Vitruvius, rather than Hero of Alexandria, as the first to describe the aeolipile.
Notes on verification
Multiple independent sources (Wikipedia, SciHi, MacTutor/St Andrews) corroborate that Vitruvius mentioned the aeolipile in De Architectura roughly a century before Hero's more detailed account, supporting the narrower claim about priority of mention.
Sources
- Aeolipile (en.wikipedia.org)
- http://scihi.org/hero-alexandria/ (scihi.org)
- https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/SH/heron_sh.pdf (mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk)
- https://www.missedhistory.com/article/hero-alexandria-aeolipile-steam-engine-ancient (missedhistory.com)