It may be over 2000 years old, but it’s still cool tech.
The Antikythera Mechanism was found in 1900 by sponge divers exploring an ancient shipwreck off the coast of Antikythera island (near Greece). The precise function of the complex clock-like device has remained a mystery. Until now.
New analysis using three dimensional X-ray scanners have helped researchers reconstruct the workings of the gears and enhance faded inscriptions that explained how to operate the device. According to these findings, the device was an extremely precise astronomical calculator with front dials that had pointers for the sun and Moon along with markings that coincided with the zodiac and solar calendars. The dials on the back were used to predict lunar and solar eclipses. The mechanism could also mechanically replicated the irregular motions of the Moon.
“This device is just extraordinary, the only thing of its kind,” said study leader Mike Edmunds of Cardiff University in the UK. “The design is beautiful, the astronomy is exactly right…In terms of historical and scarcity value, I have to regard this mechanism as being more valuable than the Mona Lisa.“
The Antikythera Mechanism is frequently referred to as the world’s first computer – a machine so complicated that its kind was not seen again for another 1000 years. I have been fascinated by the device ever since I first came across it a number of years ago. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing a working model. Fortunately, researchers are planning to develop one sometime in the near future.
