gran Posted April 28, 2010 Report Share Posted April 28, 2010 The Antikythera Mechanism more than 2000 years old is often decribed as a mechanical computer that show the motions of the planets, sun and moon...but in some respects it is like the complications on a watch...guess if it had a winding mechanism it would be a watch/clock and not a computer? A perplexing artifact was recovered by sponge-divers from a shipwreck in 1900 off the coast of Antikythera, a small island that lies northwest of Crete. The divers brought up from the wreck a great many marble and and bronze statues that had apparently been the ship's cargo. Among the findings was a hunk of corroded bronze that contained some kind of mechanism composed of many gears and wheels. Writing on the case indicated that it was made in 80 B.C., and many experts at first thought it was an astrolabe, an astronomer's tool. An x-ray of the mechanism, however, revealed it to be far more complex, containing a sophisticated system of differential gears. Gearing of this complexity was not known to exist until 1575! It is still unknown who constructed this amazing instrument 2,000 years ago or how the technology was lost. read more here: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=antikythera-mechanism-eclipse-olympics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobster Posted April 28, 2010 Report Share Posted April 28, 2010 thats awesome, i am going to read the article during my lunch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted April 28, 2010 Report Share Posted April 28, 2010 That's fantastic, thanks for sharing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katerchen Posted April 29, 2010 Report Share Posted April 29, 2010 WOWOWOWOW!!! :thumbsupsmileyanim: :thumbsupsmileyanim: BIG thanks to Gunnar for finding our heirloom!! This used to be in our family for decades until it got lost whilst moving form crete to peloponnese... Have to call my maternal grandfather and tell him!! Nooo - this no "watch mechanism" or like the article tells its an antique watchwinder!! George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krpster Posted April 29, 2010 Report Share Posted April 29, 2010 Amazing! It is stuff like this that really makes me feel small in the world. Imagine so long ago being able to accomplish such a thing. I visited Pompeii a few years ago and walked away with the same feeling. Thanks for sharing such a great story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vafarmer70 Posted April 29, 2010 Report Share Posted April 29, 2010 Great article, thanks for sharing. Who knows what is out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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