[37], The Antikythera mechanism is generally referred to as the first known analogue computer. [69], Tony Freeth and Alexander Jones have modelled and published details of a version using several gear trains mechanically-similar to the lunar anomaly system allowing for indication of the positions of the planets as well as synthesis of the Sun anomaly. Freeth and Jones note that the inevitable "looseness" in the mechanism due to the hand-built gears, with their triangular teeth and the frictions between gears, and in bearing surfaces, probably would have swamped the finer solar and lunar correction mechanisms built into it: Though the engineering was remarkable for its era, recent research indicates that its design conception exceeded the engineering precision of its manufacture by a wide margin—with considerable cumulative inaccuracies in the gear trains, which would have cancelled out many of the subtle anomalies built into its design.[11][74]. [10][13][71], Apparently, gears m3, n1-3, p1-2, and q1 did not survive in the wreckage. The Antikythera mechanism is an auncient analog computer an orrery uised tae predict astronomical poseetions an eclipses for calendrical an astrological purposes, as well as the Olympiads, the cycles o the ancient Olympic Gemmes. [69], Their proposal used simple meshed gear trains and accounted for the previously unexplained 63 toothed gear in fragment D. They proposed two face plate layouts, one with evenly spaced dials, and another with a gap in the top of the face to account for criticism regarding their not using the apparent fixtures on the b1 gear. This moved the date pointer on the front dial, which would be set to the correct Egyptian calendar day. [64] It has also been argued that the first month of the calendar, Phoinikaios, was ideally the month in which the autumn equinox fell, and that the start-up date of the calendar began shortly after the astronomical new moon of 23 August 205 BC. Google Doodle marks discovery of ancient Greek computer", "The Antikythera Shipwreck: the Ship, the Treasures, the Mechanism", "Naked Science – Star Clock BC (TV Episode)", "BBC Four – The Two-Thousand-Year-Old Computer", "Small Mammal, Behind the Scenes: Lego Antikythera Mechanism", "Behind The Couch: 'Stonehenge Apocalypse, "Antikythera Element - EVE Online Reference", "The Moon Phase Anomaly in the Antikythera Mechanism", "The Antikythera Mechanism: Still a Mystery of Greek Astronomy", "The Antikythera Mechanism: 1. [11] Due to advances in imaging and X-ray technology it is now possible to know the precise number of teeth and size of the gears within the located fragments. This was the only visual pointer naturally travelling in the counter-clockwise direction. Budiselic et al., “Antikythera Mechanism: Evidence of a Lunar Calendar,”. It is defined as the cycle of repetition of the positions required to cause solar and lunar eclipses, and therefore, it could be used to predict them—not only the month, but the day and time of day. [49], Further dives were undertaken in 2014, with plans to continue in 2015, in the hope of discovering more of the mechanism. Prograde motion; retrograde is obviously the opposite direction. 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.[10]:10. Given the era of the Mechanism's presumed construction and the presence of Egyptian month names, it is possibly the first example of the Egyptian civil-based lunar calendar proposed by Richard Anthony Parker in 1950. The ones chosen above seem to provide good accuracy with reasonable tooth counts, but the specific gears that may have been used are, and probably will remain, unknown. Based on the distribution of the times of the eclipses, it has recently been argued that the start-up date of the Saros dial was shortly after the astronomical new moon of 28 April 205 BC. The Antikythera mechanism is basically made out of wood and bronze. The purpose of the front face was to position astronomical bodies with respect to the celestial sphere along the ecliptic, in reference to the observer's position on the Earth. Investigations into the object were dropped until British science historian and Yale University professor Derek J. de Solla Price became interested in it in 1951. "Time" is the interval represented by one complete revolution of the gear. It was built more than 2,000 years ago and used by the ancient Greeks to map the movement of the Sun, Moon, and planets, to predict lunar and solar eclipses, and even when the next Olympic Games would be. It is believed that a hand-turned shaft (now lost) was connected by a crown gear to the main gear wheel, which drove the further gear trains, with each revolution of the main gear wheel corresponding to one solar year. He suggested that along with the lunar anomaly, adjustments would have been made for the deeper, more basic solar anomaly (known as the "first anomaly"). Fragment 19 contains significant back door inscriptions including one reading "... 76 years ..." which refers to the Callippic cycle. [11] Similarly, neither is there the evidence of planetary orbit pointers for the five planets known to the Greeks among the ruins. Change from traditional naming: X is the main year axis, turns once per year with gear B1. (representing the number zero, assumed, not yet observed), H (number 8) means add 8 hours to the time mentioned in the display, Iϛ (number 16) means add 16 hours to the time mentioned in the display, This page was last edited on 19 December 2020, at 15:03. This motion was studied in the 2nd century BC by astronomer Hipparchus of Rhodes, and it is speculated that he may have been consulted in the machine's construction. Marcellus had great respect for Archimedes and one of these machines was the only item he kept from the siege (the second was placed in the Temple of Virtue). [10]:4–5, 10 The Saros cycle is 18 years and ​11.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px;white-space:nowrap} 1⁄3 days long (6585.333... days), which is very close to 223 synodic months (6585.3211 days). [10]:11, The Metonic Dial is the main upper dial on the rear of the mechanism. Price, Derek de Solla (1974). Price published an extensive 70-page paper on their findings in 1974. In addition to theoretical accuracy, there is the matter of mechanical accuracy. [11] For each of the three systems there is an epicyclic gear whose axis is mounted on b1, thus the basic frequency is the Earth year (as it is, in truth, for epicyclic motion in the Sun and all the planets—excepting only the Moon). [11], In short, the Antikythera Mechanism was a machine designed to predict celestial phenomena according to the sophisticated astronomical theories current in its day, the sole witness to a lost history of brilliant engineering, a conception of pure genius, one of the great wonders of the ancient world—but it didn't really work very well![11]. Figure 2. Two large dials are on the back of the mechanism. In 1900, a boatload of sponge divers in the Mediterranean were forced off course by a storm and took shelter nearby the island of Antikythera. The modelled rotational period of the Exeligmos pointer is 19,756 days; the modern value is 19755.96 days. [citation needed]. [95], The massively multiplayer video game Eve Online contains an item named "Antikythera Element" obtained from game content surrounding a mysterious group of non-player characters themed as ancient Greeks. The gears k1 and k2 form an epicyclic gear system; they are an identical pair of gears that don't mesh, but rather, they operate face-to-face, with a short pin on k1 inserted into a slot in k2. A geared calendar similar to the Byzantine device was described by the scientist al-Biruni around 1000, and a surviving 13th-century astrolabe also contains a similar clockwork device. [26]:7, Information on the specific data gleaned from the ruins by the latest inquiries is detailed in the supplement to Freeth's 2006 Nature article. [65], The Callippic dial is the left secondary upper dial, which follows a 76-year cycle. It showed both solar and lunar eclipses. [32] This wreck of a Roman cargo ship was found at a depth of 45 metres (148 ft) off Point Glyphadia on the Greek island of Antikythera. Their system, they claim, is more authentic than Wright's model as it uses the known skill sets of the Greeks of that period and does not add excessive complexity or internal stresses to the machine. The ancient Greek technology used to build the Antikythera Mechanism had been lost by the time of the Roman Empire. It also contains remnants of the mechanism's wooden housing. The data to support this function is available given the Sun and Moon positions as angular rotations; essentially, it is the angle between the two, translated into the rotation of the ball. On one of its fragments is written "76 years, 19 years" representing the Callippic and Metonic cycles. [13] However, it was demonstrated in 2017 that the calendar on the Metonic Spiral is indeed of the Corinthian type but cannot be that of Syracuse. The world’s oldest astronomical calculator is famous for having intricate gear systems centuries ahead of their time. Translated into global spin, that means an eclipse occurs not only eight hours later, but one-third of a rotation farther to the west. How will it change our understanding of the ancient machine. Challenging the Classic Research", "The Heavens of Poseidon: The History and Discovery of the AntiKythera Mechanism", "The Antikythera Mechanism: A Computer Science Perspective", "Hublot painstakingly recreates a mysterious, 2,100-year-old clockwork relic - but why? Undiscovered gearing, synchronous with the rest of the Metonic gearing of the mechanism, is implied to drive a pointer around this scale. The Moon pointer holds a shaft along its length, on which is mounted a small gear named r, which meshes to the Sun pointer at B0 (the connection between B0 and the rest of B is not visible in the original mechanism, so whether b0 is the current date/mean Sun pointer or a hypothetical true Sun pointer is not known). Parts of the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient Greek mechanical device recovered in 1901 from the wreck of a trading ship that sank in the 1st century. [13][14][15], This artefact was retrieved from the sea in 1901, and identified on 17 May 1902 as containing a gear by archaeologist Valerios Stais,[16] among wreckage retrieved from a shipwreck off the coast of the Greek island Antikythera. [26]:8, A table of the gears, their teeth, and the expected and computed rotations of various important gears follows. [11], In 2008, continued research by the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project suggested that the concept for the mechanism may have originated in the colonies of Corinth, since they identified the calendar on the Metonic Spiral as coming from Corinth or one of its colonies in northwest Greece or Sicily. On average, due to epicyclic gearing causing accelerations and decelerations. Each of the three mechanisms can fit within a quadrant of the b1 extension, and they are thus all on a single plane parallel with the front dial plate. The exact position and mechanisms for the gears of the planets is not known. Other fragments may still be in storage, undiscovered since their initial recovery; Fragment F came to light in that way in 2005. In addition to this important minor fragment, 15 further minor fragments have remnants of inscriptions on them. Some consider the Antikythera mechanism to be the first human-made analogue computer, potentially used for purposes ranging from calculating the positions of celestial bodies to determining—with accurate precision—solar and lunar eclipses; however, the full functionality of the mechanism and its intended use are yet to be deciphered. [84] Fragments of a geared calendar attached to a sundial, from the 5th or 6th century Byzantine Empire, have been found; the calendar may have been used to assist in telling time. [54], There is much debate as to whether the mechanism had indicators for all five of the planets known to the ancient Greeks. [67] The inscriptions on each one of the four divisions are:[10][13], The Saros dial is the main lower spiral dial on the rear of the mechanism. The remains of this ancient “computer,” now on display in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, were recovered in 1901 from the wreck of a trading ship that sank in the first half of the 1st century bce near the island of Antikythera in the Mediterranean Sea. [79][80] The surviving texts from ancient times describe many of his creations, some even containing simple drawings. But as soon as Gallus had begun to explain, by his sublime science, the composition of this machine, I felt that the Sicilian geometrician must have possessed a genius superior to any thing we usually conceive to belong to our nature. [28], On 17 May 2017, Google marked the 115th anniversary of the discovery with a Doodle.[86][87]. Emeritus Professor of Astrophysics, Cardiff University, U.K., and a member of the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project. They also propose indicating the solar anomaly (that is, the sun's apparent position in the zodiac dial) on a separate pointer from the date pointer, which indicates the mean position of the Sun, as well as the date on the month dial. The widespread existence of such devices can be inferred from references in Greco-Roman literature, particularly in the descriptions left by Marcus Tullius Cicero (1st century bce), that stretch from Archimedes (3rd century bce) to a poetic reference in the late 4th or early 5th century ce. (2008)[13] and those for the lower half of the table from Freeth and Jones 2012. Contains parts of the upper right of the front dial face showing calendar and zodiac inscriptions. [11] The computed values start with 1 year/revolution for the b1 gear, and the remainder are computed directly from gear teeth ratios. These astronomical cycles would have been known to the Greeks from Babylonian sources. The Antikythera mechanism is an ancient mechanical analog computer (as opposed to digital computer) designed to calculate astronomical positions. The Antikythera mechanism was found in a cargo ship that sank around 70 B.C. Found in 2005 and contains 16 inscriptions from the lower right of the Saros spiral. 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. [47] Rhodes was a busy trading port in antiquity and a centre of astronomy and mechanical engineering, home to astronomer Hipparchus, who was active from about 140 BC to 120 BC. A fully functioning Lego reconstruction of the Antikythera mechanism was built in 2010 by hobbyist Andy Carrol, and featured in a short film produced by Small Mammal in 2011. The importance of the Antikythera Mechanism has been recognised since nearly the moment of its discovery on the Mediterranean Sea floor in 1901. In the 2000s, researchers revealed text — a kind of instruction manual — inscribed on parts of the mechanismthat had never been seen before. Described by modern-day archaeologists and historians as the first analog computer, the Antikythera mechanism was a device used to predict astronomical events (eclipses, orbit of the moon, and position of stars). ", "Solar anomaly and planetary displays in the Antikythera Mechanism", "The Antikythera Mechanism: a new gearing scheme", "On the Pin-and-Slot Device of the Antikythera Mechanism, with a New Application to the Superior Planets", "An Initial Assessment of the Accuracy of the Gear Trains in the Antikythera Mechanism", "M. TVLLI CICERONIS DE RE PVBLICA LIBER PRIMVS", "Archimedes: Spheres and Planetaria (Introduction)", "Cicero, De Natura Deorum II.88 (or 33–34)", "115 Anniversary of the Antikythera Mechanism Discovery", "What is the Antikythera mechanism? It has a computed modelled rotational period of 27758 days, while the modern value is 27758.8 days. Detailed imaging of the mechanism suggests that it had 37 gear wheels enabling it to follow the movements of the Moon and the Sun through the zodiac, to predict eclipses and even to model the irregular orbit of the Moon, where the Moon's velocity is higher in its perigee than in its apogee. Among the massive ancient monuments, temples, even cities, archaeologists often discover unexpected mysterious ancient artifacts that go beyond our knowledge and understanding of the past. 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. It was not to be rediscovered for millennia when Islamic and medieval Byzantine scientists began creating similar devices. The exact purpose of the Antikythera mechanism remains speculative, however. 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