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New Analysis Pushes Back Possible Origin For Antikythera Mechanism
We've mentioned several times over the years the Antikythera Mechanism, the astounding early analog computer recovered from a Greek shipwreck in shape good enough to allow modern recreations. The device has been attributed to different Greek mathemeticians and thinkers, such as Archimedes, Hipparchus, and Posidonius, but as reader puddingebola writes, "Current research suggests its origin may be much earlier, and its working based on Babylonian arithmetical methods rather than Greek Trigonometry, which did not exist at the time. Puddingebola excerpts from the NYT article:
Writing this month in the journal Archive for History of Exact Sciences, Dr. Carman and Dr. Evans took a different tack. Starting with the ways the device's eclipse patterns fit Babylonian eclipse records, the two scientists used a process of elimination to reach a conclusion that the "epoch date," or starting point, of the Antikythera Mechanism's calendar was 50 years to a century earlier than had been generally believed.
Except for the fact that it's complete pseudo-scientific bunk, promoted by the likes of frauds like Von Daniken:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
If he explores all forms and substances Straight homeward to their symbol-essences; He shall not die.
That seems like a weak assumption to start from, that is, if you were trying to make a device that predicted eclipses and wanted to check that it was working wouldn't you set the device to begin calculations for some time period during which you have reasonable records, say 50-100 years in the past...
Not only that, but also 205 B.C. (this "new" date for the calendar's starting point - just seven years after Archimedes died) it was not even an "old" date for Greeks...
(disclaimer: i am Greek!)
Correctly so because science is based on evidence, not wild speculation or serendipity.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
The etymology of "renaissance" answers your last snark.
"Wait. Something's happening. It's opening up! My God, it's full of apricots!"
If this device hadn't been found, anyone and I mean ANYONE who dared to suggest that such technology existed in this time-frame would be described, ESPECIALLY on forums like this one, as a complete 'anti-scientific' 'nutter'.
There are records of such devices (or at least related ones), but the Antikythera mechanism is the only surviving one. Cicero, for instance, describes an orrery which shows the motions of the moon and planets. Ancient Rhodes was famous for its automata.
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