I ran across this topic on another site. Apparently, this device constitutes quite the mystery. It appears to be a sort of "computer" that was most likely used to calculate astronomical data. The unusual part is that it's date of origin has been placed at about 80 BC. In this article from the 1959 Scientific American there's a very good analysis of the device.

Is it now an accepted notion that the ancient Greeks had such knowledge and technology? Does anyone know if any further conclusions have been arrived at regarding this device?

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An open mind is like an open window...without a good screen you'll get all sorts of weird bugs!

I couldn't open that link NC.

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Calvin: Sometimes when I'm talking, my words can't keep up with my thoughts. I wonder why we think faster than we speak.
Hobbes: Probably so we can think twice.

~Calvin & Hobbes~

That's odd, I just tried it and I accessed it just fine...weird.

Try this:
http://www.giant.net.au/users/rupert...a/kythera3.htm

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An open mind is like an open window...without a good screen you'll get all sorts of weird bugs!

I recently saw a program about this device on the history channel. I cannot remember all the conclusions they drew, but I think that they havecut through most of the mystery. I will try to dig up more info.

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Hwæt! We Gardena in geardagum,
þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon,
hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon.

Odd, must have been net cong or something. I tried 2 or 3 times and it errored out, worked just fine now though. :wink:

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Calvin: Sometimes when I'm talking, my words can't keep up with my thoughts. I wonder why we think faster than we speak.
Hobbes: Probably so we can think twice.

~Calvin & Hobbes~

A quick summery: Ancient technology, used possibly as an astronomical and calendar calculator. Mechanically, it is a mechanism incorporating 32 gear-wheels as well as inscriptions related to the zodiac and the months. Discovered in 1900-1901 by sponge divers from Syme in an ancient shipwreck near the island of Antikythera. Dated to ca 80 A.D

The mechanism consisted of a box, the external faces of which bore metal plates that were scaled. On these plates and on the flaps of the box, various signs were engraved, as well as names of months, constellations, signs of the zodiac, names of the then known planets, winds, indications for the equinox and the times certain constellations appeared and disappeared on the sky .The mechanism laying in the box consists of 30 toothed wheels the diameter of which varies from 9 to 132 mm. The most impressive feature of the mechanism is its differential gear system accepting two different rotations. These toothed wheels were set in motion with the aid of a hand operating shaft and rotated at a different speed each, putting in motion in their turn other shafts and indicators on the scaled plates vesting the surface of the box. So this machine is showing the movements of the sun, the earth, the moon, and the main constellations in their different phases.

Do a Google search for "antikythera", lots of stuff out there. Ignore the ones that say "It must be an alien artifact because humans could never have come up with something that complex pre-Industrial Revolution!"



Info on the device.

Animations.

Historical speculation.

I saw the same program, which piqued my curiosity greatly. Thanks for that link N C Moore, this is one truly fascinating discovery. I am afraid it's going to remain an unsolved one. Without the support or allusion to understandings of this magnitude in that era/culture, I believe it will just be an oddity that will never be explained.

If I had to venture a guess I would say it was someone's pet project that was found, not a mainstream type device. Akin to finding Galileo's first scope before anyone ever knew of his work. There have always been brilliant people on earth, it stands to reason that not all discoveries/theories were ever revealed.

The fact it was on a ship makes me really ponder the navigation angle, I do not know enough about Astronomy/Star Chart use for navigation to have a real opinion about it's possible functionality.

Hopefully we can find more recent information on it's origin etc...



(Disregard the more info, lol. I was cooking Alfredo sauce and it took me forever to finish this post and seems I have some reading to do now. )

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Calvin: Sometimes when I'm talking, my words can't keep up with my thoughts. I wonder why we think faster than we speak.
Hobbes: Probably so we can think twice.

~Calvin & Hobbes~

As far as I remember, the usual perception we have of ancient greek and hellenistic science is that of theories not applied to practical purposes (basically, no engineering based on theories).

Every complex mechanism produced at that time is commonly considered a toy, and we believe that the people that built them had the same opinion.

Although there are people that argue that the hellenistic science was closer to the modern concept of science than we imagine, there is no evidence that such science gave rise to an industry.
If it did, the Antikythera Mechanism would not be an anomalous finding.

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papageno


"Why waste time learning, when ignorance is instantaneous?" - Hobbes (Calvin and Hobbes)

"It's all about context!" - Vince Noir (The Mighty Boosh)

"I've never heard of such a brutal and shocking injustice that I cared so little about!" - Zapp Brannigan (Futurama)

Ancient mechanisms. Not unheard of.
It makes you wonder what other discoveries were lost through the ages.

Ancient Greek clocks. It seems that their technical achievements are a bit underrated.

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