Posted on 03/21/2021 3:48:27 PM PDT by MtnClimber
Explanation: No one knew that 2,000 years ago, the technology existed to build such a device. The Antikythera mechanism, pictured, is now widely regarded as the first computer. Found at the bottom of the sea aboard a decaying Greek ship, its complexity prompted decades of study, and even today some of its functions likely remain unknown. X-ray images of the device, however, have confirmed that a main function of its numerous clock-like wheels and gears is to create a portable, hand-cranked, Earth-centered, orrery of the sky, predicting future star and planet locations as well as lunar and solar eclipses. The corroded core of the Antikythera mechanism's largest gear is featured, spanning about 13 centimeters, while the entire mechanism was 33 centimeters high, making it similar in size to a large book. Recently, modern computer modeling of missing components is allowing for the creation of a more complete replica of this surprising ancient machine.
For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.
Lol!
Operation
On the front face of the mechanism there is a fixed ring dial representing the ecliptic, the twelve zodiacal signs marked off with equal 30-degree sectors. This matched with the Babylonian custom of assigning one twelfth of the ecliptic to each zodiac sign equally, even though the constellation boundaries were variable.
Outside that dial is another ring which is rotatable, marked off with the months and days of the Sothic Egyptian calendar, twelve months of 30 days plus five intercalary days. The months are marked with the Egyptian names for the months transcribed into the Greek alphabet. The first task, then, is to rotate the Egyptian calendar ring to match the current zodiac points. The Egyptian calendar ignored leap days, so it advanced through a full zodiac sign in about 120 years.[3]
The mechanism was operated by turning a small hand crank (now lost) which was linked via a crown gear to the largest gear, the four-spoked gear visible on the front of fragment A, the gear named b1. This moved the date pointer on the front dial, which would be set to the correct Egyptian calendar day.
The year is not selectable, so it is necessary to know the year currently set, or by looking up the cycles indicated by the various calendar cycle indicators on the back in the Babylonian ephemeris tables for the day of the year currently set, since most of the calendar cycles are not synchronous with the year.
The crank moves the date pointer about 78 days per full rotation, so hitting a particular day on the dial would be easily possible if the mechanism were in good working condition. The action of turning the hand crank would also cause all interlocked gears within the mechanism to rotate, resulting in the simultaneous calculation of the position of the Sun and Moon, the moon phase, eclipse, and calendar cycles, and perhaps the locations of planets.[43]
The operator also had to be aware of the position of the spiral dial pointers on the two large dials on the back. The pointer had a “follower” that tracked the spiral incisions in the metal as the dials incorporated four and five full rotations of the pointers. When a pointer reached the terminal month location at either end of the spiral, the pointer’s follower had to be manually moved to the other end of the spiral before proceeding further.[2]:10 ...”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism#Operation
My ‘Field Computer’ when I was in the Army in the 1980’s was the size of a Volkswagon Beetle - and it had it’s own trailer so I could haul it around!
How far we have come in such a short time. :)
No wonder it doesn’t work. They forgot to clean it for a few thousand years.
It’s probably out of warranty, too, unless they got the extended plan.
Errr... it was probably used to help navigate the seas at night more than to predict the next eclipse. But you never know.
They probably get 3-4 calls a day offering to renew...
Sold as Blue-Point...
I had the good fortune to view this in the National Museum in Athens. My first impression was it looked like it was made with the technology one would find in a 19th century machine shop.
Youtube “clickspring” watch him build a model. Amazing workmanship.
It is amazing when one considers it was all hand cut
with files which themselves were hand made.
There must have been so much that was lost during the dark ages.
Pretty much proof right there that humanity was pretty advanced at some point and some idiot set us all back about 2000 years by taking out key people (& library of Alexandria?). To construct something that intricate, even “by hand”, would require some precision metalworking & removal equipment not to mention a great deal of mathematics.
Reminded me somewhat of the “Torpedo Data Computers” of WWII that US submarines used. But look how much went into something that just had to compute a firing angle.
https://maritime.org/tech/tdc.htm
Type of gov’t back then stopped progress. We have democrats in this country doing the same.
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