Ancient astronomical device thrills scholars



LONDON, England (Reuters) -- An ancient astronomical calculator made at the end of the 2nd century BC was amazingly accurate and more complex than any instrument for the next 1,000 years, scientists said on Wednesday.

The Antikythera Mechanism is the earliest known device to contain an intricate set of gear wheels. It was retrieved from a shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera in 1901 but until now what it was used for has been a mystery.

Although the remains are fragmented in 82 brass pieces, scientists from Britain, Greece and the United States have reconstructed a model of it using high-resolution X-ray tomography.

They believe their findings could force a rethink of the technological potential of the ancient Greeks.

"It could be described as the first known calculator," said Professor Mike Edmunds, a professor of astrophysics at Cardiff University in Wales.

"Our recent work has applied very modern techniques that we believe have now revealed what its actual functions were."

The calculator could add, multiply, divide and subtract. It was also able to align the number of lunar months with years and display where the sun and the moon were in the zodiac.

Edmunds and his colleagues discovered it had a dial that predicted when there was a likely to be a lunar or solar eclipse. It also took into account the elliptical orbit of the moon.

"The actual astronomy is perfect for the period," Edmunds told Reuters.

"What is extraordinary about the thing is that they were able to make such a sophisticated technological device and to be able to put that into metal," he added.

The model of the calculator shows 37 gear wheels housed in a wooden case with inscriptions on the cover that related to the planetary movements.

Francois Charette, of the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, Germany, said the findings, reported in the journal Nature, provide a wealth of data for future research.

"Newly deciphered inscriptions that relate to the planetary movements make it plausible that the mechanism originally also had gearings to predict the motion of the planets," he said in a commentary.

Edmunds described the instrument as unique, saying there is nothing like it in the history of astronomy. Similar complicated mechanisms were not been seen until the appearance of medieval cathedral clocks much later.

"What was not quite so apparent before was quite how beautifully designed this was," he said. "That beauty of design in this mechanical thing forces you to say 'Well gosh, if they can do that what else could they do?'"

CNN

   

Too bad the Greeks went by the wayside or else they may have amounted to more than a chapter in most history books.

   

Yeah the greeks contribution to the world might have been even greater if they had not been a fragminted society of city states.

Great find BN. thanks for shareing it.

   

Cool. Yet another example as to the Romans' greatness (however fleeting)

   

Woah. Cooool.

Does more then my peice of shit calculator that decided to fail on me during my math test.....

   

Let your teacher know your calculator went fubar and just maybe he'll give you bonus points for "roughing it" and doing the math yourself.

   

Actually, I never bring my calculator to class anyway... I'm just too lazy, since I don't have one of my own and would have to look for one. He punishes you for not bringing one in though. Asshole. Infact, I have a detention to serve with him, AGAIN, at lunch on Friday because of the stupid claculator dispute.

He's going senile in his old age I think.

Got through my Math Exam just fine without the thing anyway,

   

It's funny, I used to live off my graphing calculator, now I can't stand the thing, and do everything with my regular scientific...

It'd be neat if they made a working scale model of this thing...

   

You should get one anyway. I got a scientific calculator back in grade 8 and it's equal to a Ti-83 I bought. It was only $30 and the battery only died this year.

Don't be too hard on your teacher. It's not his fault. Most provincial education ministries want all students to know how to use a calculator above all else.

   

Why would they want them to use a calculator so much if they are going to bother them with "showing your work" all the time anyway? Actually, I feel the entire Math system is silly, but whatever.

I should get one, yes.... I would like to spend more time in the school cafateria pointing to the Calgree Flamers place in the standings then with the guy who thinks I do drugs or something.

I agree Blue Nose, would be quite neat indeed. Wouldn't mind seeing it myself.

   

May we possibly venture a guess that this might be an Atlantean invention? They may have existed and traded with the Greeks. They were also reputed to be extremely advanced. This might be a piece of Atlantean history...

   

Maybe we'd have heard of all these cool things if retards didin'nt burn libraries?

The relationship between these things was known and gears are hardly a new invention, even at that time. I still put Charles Babbage's difference engines above this.

As for calculators.. it has to be HP.

   

Don't you mean Mycean or Minoan civilization? Atlantis is a myth based on their demise.

   

I love the fact that this rig had a differential setup over a thousand years before the next one was seen. Findings like this are just way to cool for words. I hope they make a working model of it as well BN.

   

They are!! Saw this on Discovery Channel the other day and there is a plan to make a working copy. I forget what they have to do to copy it, but once that's done they will build one.