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Ancient Greek Computer Reconstructed

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the old-made-new-again dept.

afaik_ianal writes "A working reconstruction of an ancient Greek computer, the Antikythera mechanism, which was found at the bottom of the ocean in 1900 has been unveiled and is on display at the Technopolis museum, in Athens. The device is believed to have been used to calculate the positions of various celestial bodies including the sun and the moon on any given date. While some guesswork was required in the reconstruction, the bulk of the design is based on updated X-ray photographs of the device."

4 of 266 comments (clear)

  1. They don't build them like they used to by saskboy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "The Antikythera mechanism, as it is now known, was originally housed in a wooden box about the size of a shoebox, with dials on the outside and a complex assembly of bronze gear wheels within."

    Anyone place odds on our gold and copper monstrosities from the 70's on surviving thousands of years and people figuring out what they were used for? There's something to be said about elegantly simple one use devices like calculators.

    --
    Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
  2. Is it a computer? by TeacherOfHeroes · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm torn between marveling at the enginuity behind this and pointing out that this is really bluring the line between 'computer' and 'glorified watch'. Even the wikipedia article it links to describes this as a clockwork mechanism.

    When the title reads 'ancient greek computer', I would expect something more along the lines of the machine that Babbage designed.

    1. Re:Is it a computer? by lawpoop · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You're right -- it's a computer that caculates a single problem. OTOH, if the greeks who built this lived on another planet, they could take the same principles and build another device that calculated the positions of those planets. Yet again, this isn't a general planetary positioning device, it just shows the future positions of *particular* planets.

      I'm coming down on the side of 'glorified watch.' Just wind it up and watch it go. No programming, no modularity, no general problem solving. Certainly nowhere near a Turing machine.

      --
      Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
      -- Pablo Picasso
    2. Re:Is it a computer? by Alien+Being · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "Even the wikipedia article it links to describes this as a clockwork mechanism."

      But then it goes on to explain:

      "The device is all the more impressive for its use of a differential gear, which was previously believed to have been invented in the 16th century."

      It's far more sophisticated than a clockwork. Call it what you want, but it is a significant discovery in the history of analog computers.