The Antikythera – a 2000 year old computer!
Saturday, January 9th, 2010
From second-century BC Greece, the Antikythera is a mechanical computer that, in terms of complexity, was 1,500 years ahead of it’s time!
It is a shock to discover that the ancients had the abilty to not only design a device of this complexity, but that they had the metallurgucal precision to create it.
Discovered in a wreck in 1900, the device was encrusted with corrosion and it’s true purpose remained unknown until it fell apart some days later, revealing large gears and small cogs and engraved writing in ancient Greek. Advanced imaging has enabled researchers to reconstruct the workings of the Antikythera, showing it could compute and predict astronomical events, including lunar and solar eclipses and the motion of the moon in the sky. The number of teeth on the gears suggested the device followed the 235-month Metonic cycle, commonly used to predict eclipses in the ancient world.
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