Ancient Astronomical Computer Decoded

slimjim8094 writes "A mechanical device from 150BC was found in a shipwreck. Upon examination with X-Rays, the device appeared to be a revolutionary computer used to calculate lunar cycles. This device "is technically more complex than any known for at least a millennium afterward." From the article "The hand-operated mechanism, presumably used in preparing calendars for planting and harvesting and fixing religious festivals, had at least 30, possibly 37, hand-cut bronze gear-wheels, the researchers said. A pin-and-slot device connecting two gear-wheels induced variations in the representation of lunar motions according to the Hipparchos model of the Moon's elliptical orbit around Earth."

Comments

The Antikythera

[G3ckoG33k]

This device is fairly well known by now. Google generates 455.000 hits on the Antikythera and has more than 800 images, including a 2005 X-ray image at Wikipedia.

Re:Not Again

[Kremmy]

The initial discovery was posted before. This article, however, is about how it works. They didn't know what it was meant to do before.

The goods

[abshnasko]

Straight to the Nature article: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v444/n7119/ab s/nature05357.html

Re:erm ...

[harlows_monkeys]

Here it is, just with a different news source, and only five days ago

That story lacks details, and notes that the research with the details will be presented on November 30th. That's today, and the present story covers those details.

Re:Not Again

[HugePedlar]

I believe the "news" this time is that the internals have recently been imaged in high resolution by non-invasive techniques, thus revealing more detail about its workings and purpose. This BBC article tells more, and mentions a Radio 4 programme to be shown on 12th December.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6191462.stm

See it move

[Anonymous Coward]

There's video of the recreation and 3d animation of the original here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/ne ws/2006/11/29/ugreek129.xml

More goods

[Angstroman]

A longer summary article of the recent paper whose abstract is referenced above is here. Note that this is a recent article. The Antikythera Mechanism has been discussed before on /., but this paper is recent.

Re:I knew it!

[schon]

I thought they were built by aliens who used them as space ships... StarGate...What kind of Stargate geek are you?

Anyone who knows anything about Stargate knows that the pyramids were the landing pads, not the spaceships themselves!

Re:So it's an astrolabe?

[Anonymous Coward]

Ahem...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism

It's a little more than an astrolabe.

Re:Ancient Engineering

[swilly]

Of course. When thinking only of western culture, for example, it's important to remember that over 80% of the ancient world's (hand-written) knowledge was destroyed, irrevocably lost forever, when a crazed mob burned down the great Library Of Alexandria.

Could you please supply a source for this? Many of the stories about the libraries destruction are actually myth, and historians are not certain about the details of the libraries destruction.

Or how about when the conquistadores destroyed all the written mayan documents they could get their filthy, pious hands on?

It would appear that Bishop Diego de Landa burned between 27 and 99 Mayan books, and up to 5,000 cult images, leaving only 10,000 Maya inscriptions left. Certaintly regrettable, but hardly an elimination of all the written mayan he could get his hands on. More regrettable, was the loss of how to read all that.