Embedded Files
Antikythera Mechanism
Fragment principal de la machine d'Anticythère. Le mécanisme consiste en un système complexe de 32 roues et plaques portant des inscriptions relatives aux signes du zodiaque et aux mois. L'étude des fragments suggère qu'il s'agissait d'une sorte d'astrolabe utilisée pour la navigation maritime. L'interprétation désormais généralement acceptée remonte aux études du professeur Derek de Solla Price, qui fut le premier à suggérer que le mécanisme est une machine à calculer le calendrier solaire et lunaire, c'est-à-dire une machine ingénieuse pour déterminer le temps sur la base des mouvements du soleil et de la lune, leur relation (éclipses) et les mouvements des autres étoiles et des planètes connues à cette époque. Le mécanisme fut probablement construit par un mécanicien ingénieux de l'école de Poséidonios à Rhodes. Cicéron, qui visita l'île en 79/78 a. C. rapporte que de tels engins étaient en effet conçus par le philosophe stoïcien Poséidonios d'Apamée. La conception du mécanisme d'Anticythère paraît suivre la tradition du planétarium d'Archimède, et peut être reliée aux cadrans solaires. Son mode opératoire est basé sur l'utilisation de roues dentées. La machine est datée de 89 a. C. environ et provient de l'épave trouvée au large de l'île d'Anticythère. Musée archéologique national, Athènes, n°15987.
Antikythera Mechanism
The Antikythera mechanism (pronounced AN-ti-ki-THEER-ə), is an ancient mechanical calculator (also described as the first known mechanical computer) designed to calculate astronomical positions. It was recovered in 1901 from the Antikythera wreck but its complexity and significance were not understood until decades later. It is now thought to have been built about 150–100 BC. Technological artifacts of similar complexity did not reappear until a thousand years later.
Jacques-Yves Cousteau visited the wreck for the last time in 1978, but found no more remains of the Antikythera Mechanism. Professor Michael Edmunds of Cardiff University who led the most recent study of the mechanism said: "This device is just extraordinary, the only thing of its kind. The design is beautiful, the astronomy is exactly right. The way the mechanics are designed just makes your jaw drop. Whoever has done this has done it extremely carefully...in terms of historic and scarcity value, I have to regard this mechanism as being more valuable than the Mona Lisa."
The device is displayed in the Bronze Collection of the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, accompanied by a reconstruction made and offered to the museum by Derek de Solla Price. Other reconstructions are on display at the American Computer Museum in Bozeman, Montana and the Children's Museum of Manhattan in New York and in Kassel, Germany.
Contents
Origins
The mechanism is the oldest known complex scientific calculator. It contains many gears, and is sometimes called the first known analog computer, although its flawless manufacturing suggests that it had a number of predecessors which have not yet been discovered. It appears to be constructed upon theories of astronomy and mathematics developed by Greek astronomers and it is estimated that it was made around 150 to 100 BC. One hypothesis is that the device was constructed at an academy founded by the ancient Stoic philosopher Posidonius on the Greek island of Rhodes, which at the time was known as a centre of astronomy and mechanical engineering, and that perhaps the astronomer Hipparchus was the engineer who designed it since it contains a lunar mechanism which uses Hipparchus' theory for the motion of the Moon. Investigators have suggested that the ship could have been carrying it to Rome, together with other treasure looted from the island to support a triumphal parade being staged by Julius Caesar. However, the most recent findings of The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project, as published in the July 30, 2008, edition of Nature also suggest that the concept for the mechanism originated in the colonies of Corinth, which might imply a connection with Archimedes. The circumstances under which it came to be on the cargo ship are unknown. Consensus among scholars is that the mechanism itself was made in Greece. All the instructions of the mechanism are written in Greek.
Function
Schematic of the artifact's mechanism.
The device is remarkable for the level of miniaturization and for the complexity of its parts, which is comparable to that of 18th century clocks. It has over 30 gears, although Michael Wright (see below) has suggested as many as 72 gears, with teeth formed through equilateral triangles. When a date was entered via a crank (now lost), the mechanism calculated the position of the Sun, Moon, or other astronomical information such as the location of other planets. Since the purpose was to position astronomical bodies with respect to the celestial sphere, with reference to the observer's position on the surface of the earth, the device was based on the geocentric model.
The mechanism has three main dials, one on the front, and two on the back. The front dial has two concentric scales. The outer ring is marked off with the days of the 365-day Egyptian calendar, or the Sothic year, based on the Sothic cycle. Inside this, there is a second dial marked with the Greek signs of the Zodiac and divided into degrees. The calendar dial can be moved to compensate for the effect of the extra quarter day in the solar year (there are 365.2422 days per year) by turning the scale backwards one day every four years. Note that the Julian calendar, the first calendar of the region to contain leap years, was not introduced until about 46 BC, up to a century after the device was said to have been built.
The front dial probably carried at least three hands, one showing the date, and two others showing the positions of the Sun and the Moon. The Moon indicator is adjusted to show the first anomaly of the Moon's orbit. It is reasonable to suppose the Sun indicator had a similar adjustment, but any gearing for this mechanism (if it existed) has been lost. The front dial also includes a second mechanism with a spherical model of the Moon that displays the lunar phase.
There is reference in the inscriptions for the planets Mars and Venus, and it would have certainly been within the capabilities of the maker of this mechanism to include gearing to show their positions. There is some speculation that the mechanism may have had indicators for all the five planets known to the Greeks. None of the gearing for such planetary mechanisms survives, except for one gear otherwise unaccounted for.
Finally, the front dial includes a parapegma, a precursor to the modern day Almanac, which was used to mark the rising and setting of specific stars. Each star is thought to be identified by Greek characters which cross reference details inscribed on the mechanism.
The upper back dial is in the form of a spiral, with 47 divisions per turn, displaying the 235 months of the 19 year Metonic cycle. This cycle is important in fixing calendars.
The lower back dial is also in the form of a spiral, with 225 divisions showing the Saros cycle; it also has a smaller subsidiary dial which displays the 54 year "Triple Saros" or "Exeligmos" cycle. (The Saros cycle, discovered by the Chaldeans, is a period of approximately 18 years 11 days 8 hours—the length of time between occurrences of a particular eclipse.)
The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project, with experts from Britain, Greece and the United States, detected in July 2008 the word "Olympia" on a bronze dial thought to display the 76 year Callippic cycle, as well as the names of other games in ancient Greece, and probably used to track dates of the ancient Olympic games. According to BBC news:
"The four sectors of the dial are inscribed with a year number and two Panhellenic Games: the 'crown' games of Isthmia, Olympia, Nemea, and Pythia; and two lesser games: Naa (held at Dodona) and a second game which has not yet been deciphered."
Speculation about its purpose
Derek J. de Solla Price suggested that it might have been on public display, possibly in a museum or public hall in Rhodes. The island was known for its displays of mechanical engineering, particularly automata, which apparently were a specialty of the Rhodians. Pindar, one of the nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, said this of Rhodes in his seventh Olympic Ode:
"The animated figures stand
Adorning every public street
And seem to breathe in stone, or
Move their marble feet."
Arguments against it being on public display include:
a) The device is rather small, indicating that the designer was aiming for compactness (it has been compared to a modern laptop computer) and, as a result, the size of the front and back dials is unsuitable for public display. A simple comparison with size of the Tower of the Winds in Athens could give us a hint to suggest that the aim of the Antikythera mechanism manufacturer was the mobility of this device rather than its public display in a fixed place (such as a university, temple, museum or public hall).
b) The mechanism had door plates attached to it that contain at least 2,000 characters, forming what members of the Antikythera mechanism research project often refer to as an instruction manual for the mechanism. The neat attachment of this manual to the mechanism itself implies ease of transport and personal use.
c) The existence of this "instruction manual" implies that the device was constructed by an expert scientist and mechanic in order to be used by a non-expert traveler (the text gives a lot of information associated with well known geographical locations of the Mediterranean area).
The device is unlikely to have been intended for navigation use because:
a) Some data, such as eclipse predictions, are unnecessary for navigation.
b) The harsh environment of the sea would corrode the gears in a short period of time, rendering it useless.
On 30 July 2008, scientists reported new findings in the journal Nature showing that the mechanism tracked the Metonic calendar, predicted solar eclipses, and calculated the timing of the Ancient Olympic Games. Inscriptions on the instrument closely match the names of the months on calendars from Illyria and Epirus in northwestern Greece and with the island of Corfu.
Similar devices in ancient literature
Cicero's De re publica, a 1st century BC philosophical dialogue, mentions two machines that some modern authors consider as some kind of planetarium or orrery, predicting the movements of the Sun, the Moon, and the five planets known at that time. They were both built by Archimedes and brought to Rome by the Roman general Marcus Claudius Marcellus after the death of Archimedes at the siege of Syracuse in 212 BC. Marcellus had a high respect for Archimedes and one of these machines was the only item he kept from the siege (the second was offered to the temple of Virtus). The device was kept as a family heirloom, and Cicero has Philus (one of the participant in a conversation that Cicero imagined had taken place in a villa belonging to Scipio Aemilianus in the year 129 BC) saying that Caius Sulpicius Gallus (consul with Marcellus' nephew in 166 BC, and credited by Pliny the Elder as the first Roman to have written a book explaining solar and lunar eclipses) gave a 'learned explanation' of it and demonstrated it working.
hanc sphaeram Gallus cum moveret, fiebat ut soli luna totidem conversionibus in aere illo quot diebus in ipso caelo succederet, ex quo et in [caelo] sphaera solis fieret eadem illa defectio, et incideret luna tum in eam metam quae esset umbra terrae, cum sol e regione
When Gallus moved the globe, it happened that the Moon followed the Sun by as many turns on that bronze [contrivance] as in the Earth itself, from which also in the sky the Sun's globe became [to have] that same eclipse, and the Moon came then to that position which was [its] shadow [on] the Earth, when the Sun was in line.
So at least one of Archimedes' machines, probably (considering Gallus' interests and the fact that that portion of the De Republica seems to be concerned with astronomical prodigia and in particular eclipses) quite similar to the Antikythera mechanism, was still operated around 150 BC.
Pappus of Alexandria stated that Archimedes had written a now lost manuscript on the construction of these devices entitled On Sphere-Making. The surviving texts from the Library of Alexandria describe many of his creations, some even containing simple blueprints. One such device is his odometer, the exact model later used by the Romans to place their mile markers (described by Vitruvius, Heron of Alexandria and in the time of Emperor Commodus). The blueprints in the text appeared functional, but attempts to build them as pictured had failed. When the gears pictured, which had square teeth, were replaced with gears of the type in the Antikythera mechanism, which were angled, the device was perfectly functional. Whether this is an example of a device created by Archimedes and described by texts lost in the burning of the Library of Alexandria, or if it is a device based on his discoveries, or if it has anything to do with him at all, is debatable.
If Cicero's account is correct, then this technology existed as early as the 3rd century BC. Archimedes' device is also mentioned by later Roman era writers such as Lactantius (Divinarum Institutionum Libri VII), Claudian (In sphaeram Archimedes), and Proclus (Commentary on the first book of Euclid's Elements of Geometry) in the 4th and 5th centuries.
Cicero also says that another such device was built 'recently' by his friend Posidonius, "... each one of the revolutions of which brings about the same movement in the Sun and Moon and five wandering stars [planets] as is brought about each day and night in the heavens..."
It is unlikely that any one of these machines was the Antikythera mechanism found in the shipwreck, because both the devices fabricated by Archimedes and mentioned by Cicero were located in Rome at least 30 years later than the estimated date of the shipwreck, and the third one was almost certainly in the hands of Posidonius by that date. So we know of at least four such devices. The modern scientists who have reconstructed the Antikythera mechanism also agree that it was too sophisticated to have been a unique device.
It is probable that the Antikythera mechanism was not unique, as shown by Cicero's references to such mechanisms. This adds support to the idea that there was an ancient Greek tradition of complex mechanical technology that was later transmitted to the Islamic world, where similarly complex mechanical devices were built by Muslim engineers and astronomers during the Middle Ages. In the early 9th century, the Banū Mūsā's Kitab al-Hiyal (Book of Ingenious Devices), commissioned by the Caliph of Baghdad, describes over a hundred mechanical devices, some of which may date back to ancient Greek texts preserved in monasteries. Similarly complex astronomical instruments were constructed by al-Biruni and other Muslim astronomers from the 11th century. Such knowledge could have yielded to or been integrated with European clockmaking and medieval cranes.
Investigations and Reconstructions
Reconstruction of the Antikythera mechanism in the National Archaeological Museum, Athens (made by Robert J. Deroski, based on Derek J. de Solla Price model).
Bromley (with Frank Percival, Michael Wright and Bernard Gardner); Michael Wright and The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project.
Derek J. de Solla Price
Following decades of work cleaning the device, in 1951 British science historian Derek J. de Solla Price undertook systematic investigation of the mechanism.
Price published several papers on "Clockwork before the Clock". and "On the Origin of Clockwork", before the first major publication in June 1959 on the mechanism: "An Ancient Greek Computer". This was the lead article in Scientific American and appears to have been initially published at the prompting of Arthur C. Clarke, according to the book Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World (see end of chapter 3). In "An Ancient Greek Computer" Price advanced the theory that the Antikythera mechanism was a device for calculating the motions of stars and planets, which would make the device the first known analog computer. Until that time, the Antikythera mechanism's function was largely unknown, though it had been correctly identified as an astronomical device, perhaps being an astrolabe.
In 1971, Price, by then the first Avalon Professor of the History of Science at Yale University, teamed up with Charalampos Karakalos, professor of nuclear physics at the Greek National Centre of Scientific Research "DEMOKRITOS". Karakalos took both gamma- and X-ray radiographs of the mechanism, which revealed critical information about the device's interior configuration.
In 1974, Price wrote "Gears from the Greeks: the Antikythera mechanism — a calendar computer from ca. 80 B.C.", where he presented a model of how the mechanism could have functioned.
Price's model, as presented in his "Gears from the Greeks", was the first theoretical attempt at reconstructing the device. According to that model, the front dial shows the annual progress of the Sun and Moon through the zodiac against the Egyptian calendar. The upper rear dial displays a four-year period and has associated dials showing the Metonic cycle of 235 synodic months, which approximately equals 19 solar years. The lower rear dial plots the cycle of a single synodic month, with a secondary dial showing the lunar year of 12 synodic months.
One of the remarkable proposals made by Price was that the mechanism employed differential gears, which enabled the mechanism to add or subtract angular velocities. The differential was used to compute the synodic lunar cycle by subtracting the effects of the Sun's movement from those of the sidereal lunar movement.
Allan George Bromley
An ingenious variant on Price's reconstruction was built by Australian computer scientist Allan George Bromley of the University of Sydney and Sydney clockmaker Frank Percival. Bromley went on to make new, more accurate X-ray images in collaboration with Michael Wright. Some of these were studied by Bromley's student, Bernard Gardner, in 1993.
Michael Wright
Michael Wright, formerly Curator of Mechanical Engineering at The London Science Museum, and now of Imperial College, London, made a completely new study of the original fragments together with Allan George Bromley. They used a technique called linear X-ray tomography which was suggested by retired consultant radiologist, Alan Partridge. For this, Wright designed and made an apparatus for linear tomography, allowing the generation of sectional 2D radiographic images. Early results of this survey were presented in 1997, which showed that Price's reconstruction was fundamentally flawed.
Further study of the new imagery allowed Wright to advance a number of proposals. Firstly he developed the idea, suggested by Price in "Gears from the Greeks", that the mechanism could have served as a planetarium. Wright's planetarium not only modelled the motion of the Sun and Moon, but also the Inferior Planets (Mercury and Venus), and the Superior Planets (Mars, Jupiter and Saturn)
Wright proposed that the Sun and Moon could have moved in accordance with the theories of Hipparchus, and the five known planets moved according to the simple epicyclic theory suggested by the theorem of Apollonios. In order to prove that this was possible using the level of technology apparent in the mechanism, Wright produced a working model of such a planetarium.
Wright also increased upon Price's gear count of 27 to 31 including 1 in Fragment C that was eventually identified as part of a Moon phase display. He suggested that this is a mechanism that shows the phase of the Moon by means of a rotating semi-silvered ball, realized by the differential rotation of the sidereal cycle of the Moon and the Sun's yearly cycle. This precedes previously known mechanisms of this sort by a millennium and a half.
More accurate tooth counts were also obtained, allowing a new gearing scheme to be advanced. This more accurate information allowed Wright to confirm Price's perceptive suggestion that the upper back dial displays the Metonic cycle with 235 lunar months divisions over a five-turn scale. In addition to this Wright proposed the remarkable idea that the main back dials are in the form of spirals, with the upper back dial out as a five-turn spiral containing 47 divisions in each turn. It therefore presented a visual display of the 235 months of the Metonic cycle (19 years ≈ 235 Synodic Months). Wright also observed that fragmentary inscriptions suggested that the pointer on the subsidiary dial showed a count of four cycles of the 19-year period, equal to the 76-year Callippic cycle.
Based on more tentative observations, Wright also came to the conclusion that the lower back dial counted Draconic Months and could perhaps have been used for eclipse prediction.
All these findings have been incorporated into Wright's working model, demonstrating that a single mechanism with all these functions could not only be built, but would also work.
Despite the improved imagery provided by the linear tomography Wright could not reconcile all the known gears into a single coherent mechanism, and this led him to advance the theory that the mechanism had been altered, or modified, with some astronomical functions removed, and others added.
Finally, as an outcome of his considerable research, Wright also conclusively demonstrated that Price's assumption of the existence of a differential gearing arrangement was incorrect.
Michael Wright's research on the mechanism is continuing in parallel with the efforts of the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project. Recently Wright modified slightly his model of the mechanism to incorporate the latest findings of the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project regarding the function of the pin and slot engaged gears that brilliantly simulate the anomaly in the Moon's angular velocity. On 6 March 2007 he presented his model in the National Hellenic Research Foundation in Athens.
The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project
The Antikythera mechanism is now being studied by the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project, a joint program between Cardiff University (M. Edmunds, T. Freeth), the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (X. Moussas, Y. Bitsakis), the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (J.H. Seiradakis), the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, X-Tek Systems UK and Hewlett-Packard USA, funded by the Leverhulme Trust and supported by the Cultural Foundation of the National Bank of Greece.
The mechanism's fragility precluded its removal from the museum, so the Hewlett-Packard research team and X-Tek Systems had to bring their devices to Greece. HP built a 3-D surface imaging device, known as the "PTM Dome," that surrounds the object under examination. X-Tek Systems developed a 12 ton 450 kV microfocus computerised tomographer especially for the Antikythera Mechanism.
It was announced in Athens on 21 October 2005 that new pieces of the Antikythera mechanism had been found. There are now 82 fragments. Most of the new pieces had been stabilized but were awaiting conservation.
On 30 May 2006, it was announced that the imaging system had enabled much more of the Greek inscription to be viewed and translated, from about 1,000 characters that were visible previously, to over 2,160 characters, representing about 95% of the extant text. The team's findings shed new light concerning the function and purpose of the Antikythera mechanism. Research is ongoing. The first results were announced at an international conference in Athens, November 30 and December 1, 2006
New discoveries
On 30 November 2006, the science journal Nature published a new reconstruction of the mechanism by the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project, based on the high resolution X-ray tomography described above. This work doubled the amount of readable text, corrected prior transcriptions, and provided a new translation. The inscriptions led to a dating of the mechanism to around 100 BC. It is evident that they contain a manual with an astronomical, mechanical and geographical section. The name HISPANIA (ΙΣΠΑΝΙΑ, Spain in Greek) in these texts is the oldest reference to this country under this form, as opposed to Iberia.
The new discoveries confirm that the mechanism is an astronomical analog calculator or orrery used to predict the positions of celestial bodies. This work proposes that the mechanism possessed 37 gears, of which 30 survive, and was used for prediction of the position of the Sun and the Moon. Based on the inscriptions, which mention the stationary points of the planets, the authors speculate that planetary motions may also have been indicated.
On the front face were graduations for the solar scale and the zodiac together with pointers that indicated the position of the Sun, the Moon, the lunar phase, and possibly the planetary motions.
On the back, two spiral scales (made of half-circles with two centres) with sliding pointers indicated the state of two further important astronomical cycles: the Saros cycle, the period of approximately 18 years separating the return of the Sun, Moon and Earth to the same relative positions and the more accurate exeligmos cycle of 54 years and one day (essential in eclipse prediction, see Eclipse cycle). It also contains another spiral scale for the Metonic cycle (19 years, equal to 235 lunar months) and the Callippic cycle that proposed a more accurate periodicity of 940 lunar months in approximately 76 years.
The Moon mechanism, using an ingenious train of gears, two of them linked with a slightly offset axis and pin in a slot, shows the position and phase of the Moon during the month. The velocity of the Moon varies according to the theory of Hipparchus, and to a good approximation follows Kepler's second law for the angular velocity, being faster near the perigee and slower at the apogee (see Kepler's laws of planetary motion).
On 31 July 2008, a paper providing further details about the mechanism was published in Nature (Nature Vol 454, Issue 7204, July 31, 2008). In this paper, among other revelations, it is demonstrated that the mechanism also contained a dial divided into four parts, and demonstrating a four-year cycle through four segments of one year each, which is thought to be a means of describing which of the games (such as the ancient Olympics) that took place in two and four-year cycles were to take place in any given year.
The names of the months have been read; they are the months attested for the colonies of Corinth (and therefore also traditionally assumed for Corinth and Syracuse, which have left less direct evidence). The investigators suggest that the device may well be of Syracusan design, and may descend from the work of Archimedes.
Credit: Philip Coppens
In popular culture
Electronic musician BT, in his 2006 album, This Binary Universe, included a track called "The Antikythera Mechanism"
In the 2008 computer game Spore, one of the "Storybook Planets" (planets with a unique, unnatural topography) is shaped entirely of gears. The description of such a planet asks if the "Antikythera Mechanism" was invented on such a planet.
Mentioned with a correct explanation in a Russian novel Razor's Edge (1963) by Ivan Yefremov.
See also
References
The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project, The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project. Retrieved 2007-07-01
Washington Post Quote: Imagine tossing a top-notch laptop into the sea, leaving scientists from a foreign culture to scratch their heads over its corroded remains centuries later. A Roman shipmaster inadvertently did something just like it 2,000 years ago off southern Greece, experts said late Thursday.
"Planetary gears", Nature 444 (7119).
Lazos, Christos (1994). The Antikythera Computer (Ο ΥΠΟΛΟΓΙΣΤΗΣ ΤΩΝ ΑΝΤΙΚΥΘΗΡΩΝ),. ΑΙΟΛΟΣ PUBLICATIONS GR.
Johnston, Ian (2006-11-30). "Device that let Greeks decode solar system". The Scotsman
The Guardian Mysteries of computer from 65BC are solved Quote:
This device is extraordinary, the only thing of its kind," said Professor Edmunds. "The astronomy is exactly right ... in terms of historic and scarcity value, I have to regard this mechanism as being more valuable than the Mona Lisa." and One of the remaining mysteries is why the Greek technology invented for the machine seemed to disappear
Discovering How Greeks Computed in 100 B.C. - New York Times - By John Noble Winford - July 31, 2008
It has been observed that on close examination of the mechanism there is no evidence of any mistakes. All the mechanical features have a purpose. There are no extra holes, or bits of metalwork to suggest that the manufacturer modified his design as he built the mechanism. This leads to the conclusion that he must have built a number of predecessors. However, we don't know if he was the first in a tradition of makers, or the last. It has been suggested that the number of such mechanisms may have numbered in 10's, and at least some of these should demonstrate an evolution of design.
BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Olympic link to early 'computer -BBC NEWS - Olympic link to early 'computer'
Freeth, T; Alexander, J, Steele, JM, Bitsakis, Y (July 31, 2008). "Calendars with Olympiad display and eclipse prediction on the Antikythera Mechanism". Nature 454: 614–617. doi:10.1038/nature07130
Connor, S. (2008-07-31). "Ancient Device Was Used To Predict Olympic Games". The Independent
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BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Ancient Moon 'computer' revisited
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Wright, M T. (2003). "Epicyclic Gearing and the Antikythera Mechanism, part 1". Antiquarian Horology 27 (March 2003) (3): 270–279.
Freeth, Tony; Y. Bitsakis, X. Moussas..., and M.G. Edmunds (November 30, 2006). "Decoding the ancient Greek astronomical calculator known as the Antikythera Mechanism". Nature 444: 587–591. doi:10.1038/nature05357
Freeth, Tony; Jones, Alexander; Steele, John M.; Bitsakis, Yanis (July 31, 2008). "Calendars with Olympiad display and eclipse prediction on the Antikythera Mechanism". Nature 454: 614–617. doi:10.1038/nature07130
Further reading
Books
Bromley, J. P. (1993). in Die Rolle der Astronomie in den Kulturen Mesopotamiens (ed. Galter, H. D.). Graz: rm-Druck & Vergansgesellschaft. pp. 61–67.
Cary, M. A. (1970). History of Rome. London: Macmillan. pp. 334.
James, Peter; Thorpe, Nick (1995). Ancient Inventions. New York: Ballantine. ISBN 0-345-40102-6
Marchant, Jo (6 Nov 2008). Decoding the Heavens: Solving the Mystery of the World's First Computer. William Heinemann Ltd.. ISBN 043401835X
Marchant, Jo (2009). Decoding the Heavens: Solving the Mystery of the World's First Computer. Da Capo Press. ISBN 9780306817427
Price, Derek J. de Solla (1975). Gears from the Greeks: The Antikythera Mechanism — A Calendar Computer from ca. 80 BC. New York: Science History Publications. ISBN 0-87169-647-9
Posheim, Mark E. (1994). Robot Evolution: The Development of Anthrobotics. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-02622-0..
Russo, Lucio (2004). The Forgotten Revolution: How Science Was Born in 300 BC and Why It Had To Be Reborn. Berlin: Springer. ISBN 3-540-20396-6
Steele, J. M. (2000). Observations and Predictions of Eclipse Times by Early Astronomers. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic.
Steele, J. M.. (1994). Robot Evolution: The Development of Anthrobotics. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-02622-0..
Stephenson, F. R. (1997). Historical Eclipses and the Earth's Rotation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
Toomer, G. J. (1998). Ptolemy's Almagest (trans. Toomer, G. J.). Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton Univ. Press.
Journals
Britton. (1985). "The Design of Astronomical Gear Trains". Horological Journal 128 (6): 19–23.
Bromley, A. G. (1986). "The Design of Astronomical Gear Trains (b)". Horological Journal 128 (9): 10–11.
Bromley, A. G. (1986). "Notes on the Antikythera Mechanism". Centaurus 29: 5. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0498.1986.tb00877.x
Bromley, A. G. (1990). "The Antikythera Mechanism". Horological Journal 132: 412–415.
Bromley, A. G. (1990). "The Antikythera Mechanism: A Reconstruction". Horological Journal 133 (1): 28–31.
Bromley, A. G. (1990). "Observations of the Antikythera Mechanism". Antiquarian Horology 18 (6): 641–652.
Charette, François (2006). "High tech from Ancient Greece". Nature 444: 551–552. doi:10.1038/444551a
Edmunds, Mike & Morgan, Philip (2000). "The Antikythera Mechanism: Still a Mystery of Greek Astronomy". Astronomy & Geophysics 41: 6–10. doi:10.1046/j.1468-4004.2000.41610.x (The authors mention that an "extended account" of their researches titled "Computing Aphrodite" is forthcoming in 2001, but it does not seem to have appeared as of yet.)
Freeth, T. (2002). "The Antikythera Mechanism: 1. Challenging the Classic Research". Mediterranean Archeology and Archeaometry 2 (1): 21–35.
Freeth, T. (2002). "The Antikyhera Mechanism: 2. Is it Posidonius’ Orrery?". Mediterranean Archeology and Archeaometry 2 (2): 45–58.
Freeth, T.; Bitsakis, Y., Moussas, X., Seiradakis, J. H., Tselikas, A., Mankou, E., Zafeiropulou, M., Hadland, R., Bate, D., Ramsey, A., Allen, M., Crawley, A., Hockley, P., Malzbender, T., Gelb, D., Ambrisco, W., & Edmunds, M. G. (2006). "Decoding the ancient Greek astronomical calculator known as the Antikythera Mechanism". Nature 444: 587–591. doi:10.1038/nature05357
Jones, A. (1991). "The adaptation of Babylonian methods in Greek numerical astronomy". Isis 82: 440–453. doi:10.1086/355836
Price, D. de S. (1959). "An Ancient Greek Computer". Scientific American 200 (6): 60–67. see "An Ancient Greek Computer"
Price, D. de S. (1975). "Gears from the Greeks: The Antkythera Mechanism – A Calendar Computer from ca 80BC". Trans Am Philos. Soc., New Series 64 (7).
Spinellis, Diomidis (May 2008). "The Antikythera Mechanism: A Computer Science Perspective". Computer 41 (5): 22–27. doi:10.1109/MC.2008.166
Steele, J. M. (2000). "Eclipse prediction in Mesopotamia". Arch. Hist. Exact Sci. 54: 421–454. doi:10.1007/s004070050007
Weinberg, G. D.; Grace, V. R., Edwards, G. R., Robinson, H. S;, Throckmorton, P., & Ralph, E. K. (1965). "The Antikythera Shipwreck Reconsidered". Trans Am Philos. Soc. 55 (New Series) (3): 3–48. doi:10.2307/1005929
Zeeman, E. C., (1986). "Gears From The Ancient Greeks". Proc. Roy. Inst. GB 58: 137–156. (See also the slides from a lecture here [3], slide 22 is a view of how the mechanism for a model comes to replace actual reality).
Other
Cousteau, Jacques. (1978). The Cousteau Odyssey: Diving for Roman Plunder. [Tape]. Warner Home Video/KCET, Los Angeles.
Hellenic Ministry of Culture and the National Archaeological Museum, The Antikythera Research Project
Rice, Rob S. (4 – 7 September 1997). "Physical and Intellectual Salvage from the 1st Century BC". USNA Eleventh Naval History Symposium. Thessaloniki. pp. 19–25. see The Antikythera Mechanism
Russell, Rupert, The Antikythera Mechanism
References
External links
2000-year-old computer recreated video of how the device works, from New Scientist on YouTube, December 12, 2008
A Greek Time Machine - Weijgaert, R. van der, (2005)
An Ancient Computer Surprises Scientists - Wilford, John Noble (2006-11-29) - New York Times
Ancient Greek star calculator finally yields up its secrets - Irish Independent News
Ancient Moon 'computer' revisited - BBC News
Antikythera Mechanism: study, presentation and experiments in Mixed Reality spaces - An online prototype of a Mixed Reality Museum for the Antikythera Mechanism
Antikythera Mechanism MOV files - Roumeliotis, Manos
ANTIKYTHERA E I REGOLI CALCOLATORI - Pastore, Giovanni (2006)
An emulator of the Antikythera Mechanism - under Squeak EToys
Archimedes and the 2000-year-old computer New Scientist - Jo Marchant, December 12, 2008
Article in The Times - on results published in "Nature"
Astronomy Picture of the Day, 2006 December 5 - NASA APOD Site. 2006-12-05
Compendium article combines an article from the The Economist with a Scientific American article.
Decoding the Heavens - Jo Marchant, with video
Decoding the 2,000-year-old Antikythera Mechanism - Cox, John (2007-11-29) - Network World
Decoding an ancient computer - Photos of the Antikythera Mechanism - TechRepublic
Discovering How Greeks Computed in 100 B.C.". NY Times. 2008-07-31
Early Astronomical ‘Computer’ Found to Be Technically Complex - Wilford, John Noble (2006-11-30) - NY Times
Enigma of ancient computer solved - Cosmos Magazine. 2006-11-30
Essence of the Antikythera Mechanism - Tatjana van Vark
Follow-up: Details of the Antikythera Mechanism mysteries unveiled - Cox, John (2007-11-26) -Network World
Fragmentary Knowledge -Seabrook, John (2007-05-14) - The New Yorker
Gears, Galleys, and Geography - The Antikythera Mechanism's Implications (Text of the 1993 APA Abstract) - Rice, Rob S. (1993)
Geartrain diagram - Price, Derek J. de Solla
Google Maps satellite image of relevant part of Mediterranean
Hero of the Industrial Revolution - an alternative history story featuring the Antikythera computer
HP imaging helps scientists figure out world's oldest mechanical calculator- San Francisco Chronicle. 2006-11-30
Java Animation - Bill Casselman
Mr Michael Wright - staff page at Imperial College, London
Mysteries of computer of 65BC are solved - The Guardian. 2006-11-30
Olympic link to early 'computer' - BBC News. 2008-07-30
Photographs of the mechanism's - exhibit at the National Museum of Archaeology in Athens
Provisional translation of the text inscribed on the mechanism - (PDF)(Archived)
Rien van de Wijgaert - Photographs Antikythera Mechanism 2002
The Antikythera Mechanism I - Phillips, Tony
The Antikythera Mechanism II - Phillips, Tony
The Antikythera Mechanism reconsidered (2007) - M.T. Wright - (PDF)(Archived)
The Antikythera Mechanism: Physical and Intellectual Salvage from the 1st Century B.C. - New Interpretations in Naval History: Selected Papers from the Eleventh Annual Naval History Symposium. Naval Institute Press - Rice, Rob S. (1995)
The Engines of Our Ingenuity - Antikythera Mechanism - John H. Lienhard - NPR. KUHF-FM Houston - 1995. No. 1031. Transcript.
The Heavens of Poseidon - article written in Greek and English languages by John A. Koulouris,(Esq.) for Mythopedia / IN NOMINE Portal (Athens, Greece), regarding the discovery, history, research chronology, and Antikythera Mechanism Research Project.
Unearthing Mysteries (audio) - BBC Radio 4. 2006-12-12
USATODAY - article 2008-07-30
Video Feature - Nature, July 30, 2008
What ancient shipwreck artifact suggests the ancient Greeks could build complex clockwork devices? - Jay Garmon - TechRepublic
YAAS-Yet Another Antikythera Simulator - A 3D Simulator in VRML
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism"
Remaining Fragments of the Antikythera Mechanism
Image copyright of the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project
There are 82 remaining fragments of the mechanism that contain a total of 30 gears. The largest piece contains 27 of the gears. Photograph (composite) of all the last known remaining fragments of the Antikythera Mechanism. As part of the Antikythera Reasarch Project high resolution photographs were taken of all the Fragments. The pictures were taken by Costas Xenikakis and subsequently digitized by Tony Freeth. The highest resolution used was 4,000 dpi at 24-bit depth, giving an uncompressed TIFF file of about 22 Megapixels for each image
Where there others?
Yes, very probably. It has been observed that on close examination of the mechanism there is no evidence of any mistakes. All the mechanical features have a purpose. There are no extra holes, or bits of metalwork to suggest that the manufacturer modified his design as he built the mechanism. This leads to the conclusion that he must have built a number of predecessors. However, we don't know if he was the first in a tradition of makers, or the last. It has been suggested that the number of such mechanisms may have numbered in 10's, and at least some of these should demonstrate an evolution of design.
http://www.antikythera-mechanism.gr/faq/general-questions/where-there-others
2000-year-old Computer Recreated
..
X-ray (radiograph) of Fragment A.
X-ray (radiograph) of Fragment A. Source of images: http://www.xtekxray.com/antikythera.htm
ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM RESEARCH PROJECT
© Antikythera Mechanism Research Project
The Inspection
In an exciting link up between high-tech industry and international universities, including Cardiff, Athens and Thessaloniki, the secrets of a two-thousand-year-old astronomical calculating device, the Antikythera Mechanism, are exposed for the first time with a unique 400kV microfocus Computed Tomography System.
The Inspection
X-Tek�s 400kV microfocus CT equipment has been used to probe the secrets of the ancient artefact, estimated to date from around 80 BC. Discovered in 1900 AD in a shipwreck in the Greek islands, the Antikythera Mechanism contains over 30 gear wheels and dials and the remains are covered in astronomical inscriptions. It may be a device to demonstrate the motion of the Sun, Moon and planets, or to calculate calendars or astrological events.
Although the Mechanism is no bigger than a shoe box, it is too priceless and unique to leave the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, so a major expedition in late 2005 brought an X-ray tomography machine, weighing over 7.5 tonnes, to examine the artefact in Greece.
X-Tek�s imaging equipment has been instrumental in advancing our current understanding of the Mechanism. It was originally thought that the CT results would be vital in providing good images of the gear train, allowing researchers to obtain good teeth counts for the Mechanism's gears, and finally resolving any arguments regarding the relationships between the gears. The CT results have achieved this, and much more. The results have revealed many more details of the mechanism, including the so called 'pointer-follower' in Fragment B which allows the back dial to be interpreted as spiral dials, not circular dials as previously thought. The 3D CT images have also revealed the pin and slot mechanism that has allowed researchers to discover that the Mechanism models the first anomaly of the Moon's motion.
However the great surprise has been the ability of the CT results to show hidden inscriptions in many of the Fragments. In the case of Fragment G this is exemplary: Price (1974) notes that its inscription is �almost illegible�, reading only 180 characters. The CT images, viewed at various angles, enabled the research project to read 932 characters. Looking at the data with X-Tek, academic principal investigator Professor Mike Edmunds commented, "The outstanding results obtained from X-Tek�s 3-D x-rays are allowing us to make a definitive investigation of the Mechanism. I do not believe it will ever be possible to do better."
SOURCE and rest of Article: ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM RESEARCH PROJECT
..Decoding the Heavens:
A 2,000-Year-Old Computer--and the Century-Long Search to Discover Its Secrets
Decoding the Heavens:
A 2,000-Year-Old Computer--and the Century-Long Search to Discover Its Secrets
by Jo Marchan
Related Links:
The Antikythera Mechanism - Age of the Sage
The Antikythera Mechanism - Physical and Intellectual Salvage from the 1st Century B.C. - Rob S. Rice - USNA Eleventh Naval History Symposium
Τhe Antikythera Mechanism - a Computer Science Perspective - Diomidis Spinellis
In search of lost time - The ancient Antikythera Mechanism doesn't just challenge our assumptions about technology transfer over the ages - it gives us fresh insights into history itself. - Nature, 444, 30 November 2006
Ancient Moon 'Computer' revisited - The delicate workings at the heart of a 2,000-year-old analogue computer have been revealed by scientists. - BBC News
BBC Radio 4 Programme - In the first episode of a new series of "Unearthing Mysteries", Aubrey Manning travels to Athens to find out about the latest research findings from the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project.
Decoding the Heavens - Jo Marchant - Book about the Antikythera Mechanism - New Scientist opinions editor, Jo Marchant describes in a new book the fascinating story of the Antikythera Mechanism, from its manufacture, to its loss at sea, its rediscovery 2000 years later, and the 100 year quest since then to decipher its mysteries
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