But I digress. Today I decided to write about something that has always intrigued me, the Antikythera Mechanism. Basically, the Antikythera Mechanism (AM) seems to be an ancient computer used to calculate the positions of the stars. It was discovered at the turn of the twentieth century, but its importance was not immediately recognized. Our best estimates place the date of construction squarely in the second century BC. If you're ever in the neighborhood, you can pay it a visit at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.
The AM is incredibly complex, and its construction is comparable to a nineteenth century Swiss watch. It was discovered in October 1900 off the coast of the Greek island, Antikythera. Also found among the shipwreck were several works of art; in front, the AM wasn't even noticed until 1902, when a scientist examining a rock from the wreck had a gear imbedded in it. The archaeologist believed it was an astronomical clock, but this claim was met with skepticism because the wreck was from the time of Julius Caesar, and such a complex device was seemingly anachronistic.
However, further studies have dated the mechanism to the second century BC. Scholars have agreed on this date because the AM was built to adhere to the accepted astronomical and mathematical theories that were accepted at this time. We can safely assume that the AM is Hellenistic in origin, as all the visible instructions on the device are written in Koine Greek.
There are two theories as to the AM's specific origin. One hypothesis suggests the device was constructed on the island of Rhodes, at the renowned Stoic academy. Proponents of this theory cite the island's role as a center of scientific knowledge. They further suggest that it was designed by the famed astronomer Hipparchus, as the device is based on his theory of lunar motion. Another school of thought suggests Corinth as the place of origin, theorizing a connection with the work of Archimedes.
Regardless of where the device came from, it speaks volumes about the technological advancement of the Greek world. It has over thirty gears extant, and perhaps had as many as seventy-two when in use. The user would enter the date using a crank mechanism (now lost), and the AM would show the positions of heavenly bodies used in navigation. Its calculations were based on a geo-centric model of the Solar System, so it had the capability to take into account the user's geographic location.
The AM has three dials which calculate the days of the solar year, right down to the extra quarter of a day. This was a century before the Julian Calendar was created and first proposed the concept of leap years. It also kept time with the Egyptian calendar and the Greek zodiac. The device showed the positions of the sun, moon, Mars, Venus, and the stars. It even appears to have once had a dial to tell the dates of Olympic Games and eclipses.
The mechanism is so mechanically perfect it is entirely possible that there are earlier, rougher devices that have never been found. Some experts believe the AM was on public display on the island of Rhodes. After all, automata was a specialty of the people of Rhodes. However, others argue against this, citing the small size of the machine and the fact that instructions for the AM's use are engraved on the doorplates. It is also probably not used for navigation at sea because salt water and damp air would quickly corrode the delicate inner workings, and a lot of the information that the AM provided would have been completely irrelevant to sailing.
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