The Antikythera Mechanism is an ancient artifact discovered circa 1900 CE on a shipwreck known as the Antikythera wreck. The Mechanism is thought to be the world’s oldest analog computer yet discovered (dating, scientists think, to the 1st or 2nd century BCE). The Mechanism apparently calculates calendar cycles and positions of celestial bodies using a shockingly intricate system of clockwork-style gears — though its purpose has been the subject of debate for decades, as gears can be used for lots of stuff. The Mechanism is enormously complex, and analyzing it is difficult because of its age, its condition (we just have a crusty fragment that spent roughly two millennia on the sea floor), and the need to create reconstructions in order to see it operate.
Physical reconstructions have been made — but now, a video of a virtual reconstruction is available, and I encourage you to take a look (there is no sound, don’t adjust your speakers). The video below was created by Mogi Vicentini “based on the theoretical and mechanical model by Michael Wright.” (Wright’s machine is one of the aforementioned physical reproductions, created by using X-ray tomography.) Check this out, and just think for a moment about how much precision went into creating it — two thousand frickin’ years ago:
(View in higher resolution at YouTube).
For tons more on the Mechanism, check out this Wikipedia entry. Check the References section for lots of additional reading.
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Proof that aliens visited the Earth two thousand years ago!
posted by Cody on 5-18-2010 at 2:30 am
Nah, no aliens. Only proof of that is the ‘Stonehenge GPS’! ;)))
It does proof that man has a good hunger for technical knowledge, and – normally – the good sense to use it at our advantage.
I wonder if we’ll eventually figure out the mechanism’s exect functions. (It is often referred to as the world’s first computer.)
If you like the video, you should definitely check out the PTMS and digital radiographs. Quite stunning!
posted by Ann on 5-18-2010 at 4:53 am
I have been in hisorical debates, that the ancient world could have been far more advanced than we have ever thought. this is an example. A continuation of the same debate was: Imagine if the Library of Alexandia had not burned to the ground and its treasurous knowledge of the world then wasn’t lost: what would our world have been like?
posted by Ted on 5-18-2010 at 9:07 am
I agree with Ted- I heard that if the Library at Alexandria did not burn down we would be about 100 years ahead in technology. Considering the currently fast pace of technology, the possibilities seem endless of how advanced we could have been.
Oh, and have you ever seen the “ancient batteries” found in the Middle East? Amazing that the ancients could have possibly found a way to create a voltage battery before we could!
posted by Amelia on 5-28-2010 at 11:12 pm