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2,100-Year-Old Antikythera Device Recreated In Working Form
coondoggie writes "A
new working model of the mysterious 2,100-year-old astronomical calculator, dubbed the Antikythera Device, has been unveiled, incorporating the most recent discoveries announced two years ago by an international team of researchers. The new model was demonstrated by its creator, former museum curator Michael Wright, who had created an earlier model based on decades of study."
Surprised with all the negativity. Studying cryptic machines that change the way we view technology's historical progression and after years of work crafting a working replica hardly seems worthy of scorn.
It's not that the mechanism is amazing by modern standards that is interesting. It's not not even that the mechanism must have been amazing by the standards of the time when it was manufatured. It's that the mechanism is amazing by the standards of at least 1000 years after it was apparently manufactured. Historians find stuff like that interesting; sorry you're not impressed.
It looks like Digg has invaded slashdot. Anyways, The fact that 2 millennia ago some were able to make a calculator to predict eclipses is astounding, taking into consideration the religious beliefs and the gullibility of the masses on those times.
You do realize that technology existed prior to computers, do you not? How the heck is this not technology?
Brett
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There was an article a few months ago about this that stated that the mechanism was used to calculate Olympiads.
That was the first interpretation of the mechanism. Now the model shows that it was much more than that as it can predict eclipses and planetary positions.
As for it not being a 'computer' I disagree. There are two forms of computers, analog and digital. An analog computer is basically a measuring device like a ruler or slide rule, thermometer and so on.
The mechanism is definitely an analog computer.
The Greeks were very good at building gadgets and even extremely large hydro-mechanical machines. Most of these constructions were used in temples to simulate thunder, automatic opening and closing doors, automated movement of objects (think Temple of Doom).
Their skill was renown in the ancient world and the mechanism is a tribute to their ingenuity.
Don't be apathetic. Procrastinate!
No, that gullibility part only came into effect some 500 years later, when someone convinced people that a woman could remain a virgin after giving birth to a child. This belief was formally adopted into Christian doctrine in the year 431 AD, which more or less marks the start of a thousand years when all intellectual progress in Europe stood still.
Even 8 years of George W Bush was not enough to completely halt mankind's intellectual advancement; I think your concern is unwarranted.
These Greek and Roman inventions are the same. You can't really use that steam engine to do any work, and it is impractical to build those kind of structures with your hands or with animal power.
That's true with respect to some of the more abstract tricks they discovered and couldn't find a use for -- the steam engine, as you mentioned, or parabolic mirrors -- but there are an awful lot of areas where the ancient Greeks and Romans did indeed make full practical use of technologies that were lost for more than a millennium afterwards. The GPP mentioned architecture and building technology, which is a biggie. There's also road layout, sewerage, military tactics, field medicine, firefighting technology, and a whole lot more. So it is reasonable to regard the Middle Ages as a reversal in many ways.
However, the rot set in earlier than most people think. A lot of it gets blamed on the rise of religious sects and the destruction of the library at Alexandria, but I see those as symptoms more than causes. A few centuries earlier there were lots of important libraries. If that had still been the case when the Alexandrian library was finally destroyed -- whenever that was -- its destruction wouldn't have mattered nearly as much.
Note that some of ancient Greek technology has still not been equaled by all our industrial and scientific progress -- for example their bronzework. There is no machine and no person on the planet who could reproduce a Greek bronze helmet. We have no idea how they could have done it. Similarly, it is only in the last 100 years that our understanding of metallurgy has increased to the point where we can understand what's going on in the traditional process of Samurai sword making. But if that tradition hadn't been preserved, like the Greek bronzework tradition hasn't been, there's nothing in our knowledge base that would allow us to create a sword with the capabilities of those swords -- despite our knowledge of the metallurgical principles used.
A natural consequence of declining technology
Nature abhors a vacuum. If you are seen as ignorant savages, other people will try to invade.
A disease carried by fleas, a consequence of the abolition of the Roman habit of bathing. To take a bath one needs to undress, nakedness might lead to sex, and virginity equals holiness according to the Roman Catholic church.
You mean the same church that burned the library of Alexandria and flayed and burned alive the librarian on a Christian church altar? The same church that burned alive a man who dared to question the official scientific "truth"? The same church that forced one of the inventors of the scientific method to deny his own discoveries?
A WHOLE thousand years, eh?
I think you need to take a detour to Egypt...
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
You could also credit Christianity with the paving the way for science with the idea of a lawful universe - particularly given the number of devout Christians who contributed to science: Mendel, Newton, etc.
Also Christianity does not teach that the material world does not matter. The afterlife is what matters, but what happens in this world determines what happens in the after life.
Do you not think that the collapse of the Roman Empire and barbarian invasions might just have had something to do with the loss of knowledge?
Who in Europe continued maintainning libraries and preserving knowledge through this period? The church, and monasteries in particular.
The death of the roman empire was certain before it was born. The whole empire survived on the labor of others. But by looting those other people, they were slowly destroying the source of their livelihood. They starved people to build the colosseum and their aquanauts and to supply their grand army. It was continued growth that sustained them, but once they had expanded as far as they could, the rot set in. It was only a matter of time before the barbarian hordes invaded, but Rome was long gone by that time.
This is not unlike our financial market which is basically a ponzi scheme dependent on continued growth to guarantee returns and sustain many people's needlessly lavish lifestyles. Of course it will come crashing down! Do you really think it can grow forever? There are only so many people and so many resources on the earth, and we have nowhere else to go.
And the only thing that can motivate them to stark rationalism is? I dont see where Atheism is the answer. If I read you right it is Faith itself and not religion that is the problem. So why not hate every faith based thing? Why chose religion for your ire?
Most people that consider themselves atheist ARE against all "faith based things" - it's just that religion is the most pervasive and damaging one in our society at present, and so is an important target. If religion were stamped out tomorrow, we would probably then be complaining primarily about horoscopes in the newspaper (they cause people to act irrationally and often to the detriment of the society around them, so while it's nowhere near as bad as religion, that would be next on my personal hit-list).
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Whoa, whoa, 16th century? Are you joking? First of all, they were already in decline by then. Second, isn't that a ridiculously long period of time for a *golden* age? I mean typically that phrase is reserved for a fairly short period of time where these is an extreme and unusual level of achievement, like the best part of a great ruler's reign. If it lasts for 800 years then it's not extreme OR unusual. I mean that's like almost 60% of their entire history... how can so much of it be considered golden? Isn't there like a top 5% period that would be much more appropriate?
Sorry but my BS meter on PC insanity is going off the scale.
So it is reasonable to regard the Middle Ages as a reversal in many ways.
But if it weren't for the middle ages we wouldn't have Monty Python and the Holy Grail now.