The Antikythera mechanism

Was this ancient Greek invention,built 2,000 years ago the ……..genesis of the mechanical computer?

115 years ago a group of divers searching for mediterranean sea sponges came across a 2,000 years old Greek ship wreckage of the coast of the Greek island of Antikythera(An-tee-Ky-thair-ra) it was among this wreck that something peculiar came up, an array of brass gears and dials in a mantel clock sized rotting wood case. This oddity was dubbed the “Antikythera Mechanism” by Archaeologists, now it may look like a piece of debris or a rusted old porthole door, but in fact it is a genius piece of machinery, and possibly the first mechanical computer!

How does this piece of ancient technology work? Essentially, when you set the main gear to the present calendar date the smaller gears(representing the sun, Moon and stars) will move and get approximations for where those celestial objects would be in the sky on said date.

So that’s essentially what the Antikythera mechanism is, so what do I think? As a fan of Greco Roman history this instantly interested me, yet I do not claim to be an expert on the subject as I prefer Greco Roman Warfare and Mythology over their technology so I don’t have any past knowledge to make a solid gauge of how much more advanced this is compared to other Greek technology. Now even though I say this, the Antikythera Mechanism does remind me of one thing, Archimedes, he was a great Greek inventor who supposedly invented a giant crane to raise ships out of the water, and a heat ray using mirrors, and the sun. Now this level of beyond the times technology seems quite reminiscent of the Antikythera Mechanism.

I greatly Over paraphrased this unbelievable piece of technology, here's a link to the original source(https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/5/17/15646450/antikythera-mechanism-greek-computer-astronomy-google-doodle)




If you found this interesting or have your own opinion on the A.mechanism please leave a comment!