[UA] The Antikythera Mechanism

[Chris Noessel]

Got a mechanomancer looking for a major charge? How about a 2,000 year old
astronomical computer?

http://www.discover.com/issues/oct-06/rd/antikythera-mechanism-computer/


The First Computer
A mysterious device found in Greek waters was not brought by aliens, but it
was used by ancient Greeks to track distant stars.

In 1901, divers recovered a shoebox-size, gear-filled box from a
2,000-year-old shipwreck on the floor of the Mediterranean Sea. Ever since,
the enigmatic box—known as the Antikythera Mechanism—has spawned its share
of bizarre theories. "Some people thought it came from outer space," scoffs
Athens University physicist Yanis Bitsakis. "And since the mechanism has
Greek writing on it, the other ridiculous story is that Greeks themselves
came from outer space and brought the mechanism with them." More sober minds
suggested the box was a clock or a navigational device, but even those
interpretations rested on skimpy evidence.

Now an international team of researchers claim they have found the answer.
Three-dimensional scans of the machine's innards, taken last year by an
eight-ton "microfocus" X-ray machine built around the mystery object,
revealed ancient inscriptions and complicated gear trains that gave away the
machine's purpose. "It's an all-in-one astronomical device," says Bitsakis,
who spends up to 15 hours daily deciphering the inscribed text. "In a single
machine, the designer tried to put all the knowledge he had about
astronomical phenomena."

The 30-odd bronze gears and 2,000 inscribed Greek characters in the
Antikythera Mechanism helped ancient Greek scientists track the cycles of
the solar system and calculate the motions of the sun, the moon, and the
planets. According to Cardiff University astrophysicist Michael Edmunds, the
box technically qualifies as a computer. "To build one of these is not
trivial," he says. "It shows how technically advanced the Greeks were."
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