As a civilian, I first worked on on of these
Posted on 06/07/2006 3:58:41 PM PDT by aculeus
FOR decades, researchers have been baffled by the intricate bronze mechanism of wheels and dials created 80 years before the birth of Christ.
The "Antikythera Mechanism" was discovered damaged and fragmented on the wreck of a cargo ship off the tiny Greek island of Antikythera in 1900. Advert for The Scotsman Digital Archive
Now, a joint British-Greek research team has found a hidden ancient Greek inscription on the device, which it thinks could unlock the mystery.
The team believes the Antikythera Mechanism may be the world's oldest computer, used by the Greeks to predict the motion of the planets.
The researchers say the device indicates a technical sophistication that would not be replicated for millennia and may also be based on principles of a heliocentric, or sun-centred, universe - a view of the cosmos that was not accepted by astronomers until the Renaissance.
The Greek and British scientists used three-dimensional X-ray technology to make visible inscriptions that have gone unseen for 2,000 years.
Mike Edmunds, an astrophysicist at Cardiff University, who is heading the British team, said: "The real question is, 'What was the device actually for?' Was it a used to predict calendars? Was it simply a teaching tool? The new text we have discovered should help answer these questions".
The mechanism contains over 30 bronze wheels and dials and was probably operated by hand, Mr Edmunds said. The most prominent appraisal of the mechanism's purpose was put forward in 2002 by Michael Wright, the curator of mechanical engineering at the Science Museum in London, who said it was used to track the movements of all the celestial bodies known to the Greeks: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
Mr Wright's theory is that the device was created in an academy founded by the Stoic philosopher Poseidonios on the Greek island of Rhodes. The writings of the 1st-century BC orator and philosopher Cicero - himself a former student of Poseidonios - cite a device with similarities to the mechanism.
Xenophon Moussas, a researcher at Athens University, said the newly discovered text seems to confirm that the mechanism was used to track planetary bodies. The researchers are looking at whether the device placed the sun, not the earth, at the centre of the solar system.
He said: "It is a puzzle concerning astronomical and mathematical knowledge in antiquity. The mechanism could rewrite certain chapters in this area."
Yanis Bitsakis, also of Athens University, added: "The challenge is to place this device into a scientific context, as it comes almost out of nowhere ... and flies in the face of established theory that considers the ancient Greeks were lacking in applied technical knowledge."
Mr Edmunds said the researchers were prepared for an onslaught of conspiracy theories. "There's no indication that the device is anything we wouldn't expect of the Greeks or something that would require an extra-terrestrial explanation.
"I think it is a great testament to the sophistication of the Greeks and how far they advanced before the jackboot of the Romans came through." A timeshift in the history of astronomy
IF THE Antikythera Mechanism turns out to have been a machine for showing the movements of the planets around the sun, it would greatly alter our understanding of the history of astronomy.
Although at least one Greek thinker posited a heliocentric view of the solar system, the dominant view at the time was Aristotle's - that the Earth was the centre of the universe and that everything rotated around it in perfect, circular orbits.
It was not until 1,400 years later that Copernicus and Galileo conclusively proved the heliocentric view, which greatly altered man's understanding of his importance and position in the universe.
Their work was met with stern resistance, as the Church believed the Aristotlean view - which put humanity at the centre of the cosmos - was integral to man's direct relation to God.
Researchers are now searching for clues that the Antikythera Mechanism might have been governed by heliocentric principles. If they are successful, it would suggest the heliocentric world-view was more accepted by the Greeks than thought.
This article: http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=838112006
Last updated: 07-Jun-06 16:43 BST
Hold on, I'll warm up the Tardis and we can go see how they did it.
The pyramids were much more fun, the competition brisk,
We raced those stones on up the ramps and didn’t mind the risk.
I laugh to think about the thoughts that we used “rays.”
Life was so much simpler then, it’s how we filled our days,
With building competitions, instead of fighting wars,
Why else would we pile up stones, without a trace of doors?
We’d clap an arc of wood upon each face of cubic block,
And then we’d get it up to go, by pushing up the rock.
Then toss a rope around it, and take it for a stroll,
Let me tell you, we knew then, just how to rock and roll.
The Atari 2600 Video Computer System has 128 bytes of RAM, and early cartridges had 2K ROM. The cartridge port had 13 address wires, but could only use addresses above $1000, yielding a 4K address space. Asteroids was the first cartridge to use 8K (via bankswitching), and some later carts included 16K of ROM and 128 bytes of extra RAM. Warren Robinett's "Basic Programming" cartridge allowed users to type in and run very small BASIC programs; the cartridge had 4K ROM and no RAM, and used 64 bytes for its own scratchpad, leaving 64 bytes of RAM available for the user. Not enough to do much of anything, but still somewhat cool anyway.
bttt
I like it! Pivots would do well also, using almost half the weight to assist in raising and pivoting the other half. I never bought into the long earthen ramps anyway.
As a civilian, I first worked on on of these
The "arc of wood" would have "heels" where pivoting could occur.
The ropes would fit in twin channels with a simple pass-around. A small crew would maintain tension in the reverse direction, while a team of men would pull at the top of the wheel shaped cargo load.
At the final position, they would remove a couple of arc-shaped skids, and tilt the stone into its final position.
Then they would gather up the materials and head back for another stone.
The construction teams competed with each other, as sports teams do today.
If one had a three of suitably-shaped pieces of wood, one could move a cubic piece of stone by "rolling" it over the pieces in turn without much vertical motion of the stone's center of gravity. Interesting concept.
With four of them, you could take a twenty ton cubical stone for a stroll with just a small group of men. The ropes could be spliced as an endless loop.
Once you reach the ramp, you'll need some additional manpower, and you'd better slow down for the turns!
I think it would be fun, but I don't want to have to pay for the material.
Thanks.
I enjoy your posts.
"Now, a joint British-Greek research team has found a hidden ancient Greek inscription on the device, which it thinks could unlock the mystery."
- I have just deciphered the mysterious Greek inscription. I believe it says, "Patent Pending".
I was going to add, "but I don't know what this has to do with the model." A look at the diagram provided by xcamel in reply #9 doesn't seem to indicate anything was involved beyond apparent motions, so I think you have a good question.
It says 'Close cover before winding' and on the reverse side it says 'Careful with fingers and togas while winding'
Thanks for the pic,
My pleasure. :')
I've got an Imagewriter or two, but I don't think I've ever had a daisy wheel here at home. I did get an obsolete one handed to me at work to dispose of or whatever I wanted. I took it to a consignment place in the SW part of town, and literally the next day a guy walked in looking for that very model (it was an IBM printer, made back when IBM charged by the ton for their machinery).
The heliocentric universe was postulated in ancient Greece, just not by everybody at that time. :') But the fact that Earth is a globe was well known.
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:') That's nice and off-topic, eh? ;') Probably some 18th dynasty stuff (assuming there is any chamber, as opposed to a natural grotto of some kind), because when Thutmose IV had his Dream Stele carved, he mentioned that the Sphinx sat on top of a gateway. No such gateway has been found per se since the Dream Stele was carved, unless it wasn't documented, or the documentation has failed to survive.
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