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I just happened to see the thing recently,
when I visited Athens in the end of May.
The mechanism is really very impressive,
(I have seen nothing else before with toothwheels,
manufactured before I-st century AD. It looks
like a modern clock or an analog computer indeed.)
The mechanism is badly damaged though, so it is
really hard to understand what its function was.

A very fine collection of surgical instruments
is displayed next to it (salvaged from the same
ship). Apparently this was a ship of an antique dealer:-)
because it carried many ancient statues
(I mean much more ancient than the ship itself).
They say the ship sank in the year 80 AD.
About 1/3 of the exponats of
the Archeological Museum in Athens comes from
this ship.

The Antikythera mechanism and surgical instruments
seem to provise another strong argument to the opinion
that science was much more developed in the Ellinistic
states then it is commonly acknowledged.

Alex

On Mon, 12 Jun 2006, Dan Allen wrote:

>
> Interesting article about a 2000 year old astronomical computer found
> in Greece...
>
>      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism
>
> Excerpts:
>
> The Antikythera mechanism is an ancient mechanical analog computer
> (as opposed to digital computer) designed to calculate astronomical
> positions. It was discovered in the Antikythera wreck off the Greek
> island of Antikythera, between Kythera and Crete, and has been dated
> to about 80 BCE.
>
> The device uses a differential gear ? previously believed to have
> been invented in the 16th century ? and is known for the level of
> miniaturization and complexity of its parts, which is comparable to
> that of clocks made in the 18th century.
>
> The device was about 30 cm by 15 cm in width and breadth, made of
> bronze and originally mounted in a wooden frame. It was inscribed
> with a text of over 2,000 characters, of which about 95% have been
> deciphered. The full text of the inscription has not yet been published.
>
> On June 6, 2006 it was announced that the imaging system had enabled
> much more of the Greek inscription to be viewed and translated, from
> about 1,000 characters that were visible previously, to about 2,000
> characters, representing about 95% of the complete text. The team's
> findings might shed new light concerning the function and purpose of
> the Antikythera mechanism. Research is ongoing.
>

   

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