Inside the Antikythera Mechanism

Posted on August 4, 02008
Filed Under Inspiration

Fragment A of the Antikythera mechanism

Last week a full report on the inner workings of the Antikythera mechanism was published in the science journal Nature. This ancient timekeeper was recovered by sponge divers from the sea around Greece in 1901. The device has been dated to around the 1st century BC, which makes it the great granddaddy of all hand made computers. Nothing of a similar complexity appeared for the next 1000 years. If this date is correct then it is a truly amazing piece of archeoastronomical engineering.

The detailed report reveals the device was capable of tracking lunar and solar cycles, eclipse cycles and the four-year cycle of the Olympiad and its associated Panhellenic Games. For more detailed information visit the official Antikythera Mechanism Research Project.