Antikythera Mechanism

An Ancient Greek hand-powered orrery (a mechanical model of the Solar System that predicts the relative positions and motions of the planets and moons) Found among the wreckage retrieved from a shipwreck off the coast of the Greek island Antikythera in 1901, the instrument is believed to have been designed and constructed by Greeks and dates approx 100 BC.

Antikythera Mechanism
By No machine-readable author provided. Marsyas assumed (based on copyright claims). CC BY 2.5, Wikimedia
Antikythera Mechanism
By No machine-readable author provided. Marsyas assumed (based on copyright claims). – CC BY 2.5, Wikimedia
Antikythera mechanism
By No machine-readable author provided. Marsyas assumed (based on copyright claims). CC BY 2.5, Wikimedia
Antikythera Mechanism
By No machine-readable author provided. Marsyas assumed (based on copyright claims). CC BY 2.5, Wikimedia

Used to predict astronomical positions and eclipses for calendar and astrological purposes decades in advance.

See below a representation of the gearing of the Antikythera Mechanism (likened to the first analogue computer.) 

 

 

A hypothetica schematic representation of the gearing of the Antikiythera Mechanism
By SkoreKeep – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia

 

 

Used to predict astronomical positions and eclipses for calendar and astrological purposes decades in advance.

See below a representation of the gearing of the Antikythera Mechanism (likened to the first analogue computer.) 

A hypothetical schematic representation of the gearing of the Antikythera Mechanism
By SkoreKeep – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia

As this century progresses, there is a growing awareness that ancient cultures had a level of knowledge and awareness that we do not have NOR do we really understand.