LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
The Antikythera Mechanism is an ancient computer/clock/orrery/calendar, discovered in a shipwreck around 1901, off the Greek island of Antikythera. It was believed to be used to track the position of the sun and the moon, as well as calendar dates, dates of the Olympics, and various celestial phenomena.
We believe that it was constructed by Greek scientists around 200-100 BC. Interestingly, similar technology was not discovered until about 1,500 years later. This is one of those finds that started out as a crusty clump of junk, and eventually challenged long-held beliefs about the beginnings of technology.
The original find:
A recreated model:
The mechanism was first discovered by Greek sponge divers. Originally, it was just a lump of corroded metal and wood that eventually fractured into multiple chunks. Archeologists focused on other finds in the same shipwreck, until one of them noticed a gear wheel embedded in a rock. Because scientists originally thought that the gear was too complex to have been developed in ancient Greece, they theorized that it was from a later time period, and had just been caught up in the shipwreck in later years.
A recreated model, with viewable interior:
70 years later, X-ray and gamma ray images were used to examine the fragments. Though it was extremely corroded, it's believed to have been a bronze alloy (95% copper, 5% tin). Why was it on a ship? It was probably looted by the invading Romans, and it was en route to Rome, along with various statues, coins, and luxury goods.
Interestingly, the Antikythera Mechanism predated the original believed discovery of the differential gear. Among its 30 triangle-teethed hand-formed gears was a differential gear that controlled a sphere that represented the moon, relative to the sun's position. Also, it used the miniaturization technology that we previously believed had originated in 14th century astronomical clocks. The entire mechanism was housed in a wooden box about the size of shoebox.
Proposed gear scheme:
The Antikythera Mechanism has been great for science. We discovered enough of it to prove its existence, date it roughly accurately, and turn over the existing beliefs about that technology. But there wasn't enough found to indisputably demonstrate its operation or historical provenance, so scientists can still debate it endlessly.
Science earned its reputation of infallibility through hard science (physics, mathematics, chemistry, etc.), and that reputation was wrongly appropriated by natural and social sciences. In fact, one of the most important researchers of the Antikythera Mechanism was Derek Price, the "father" of scientometrics, a discipline that critically analyzes science and technology. Before we understood the Mechanism, we had to develop a branch of science that focused on using science itself to debunk our understanding of how science developed throughout time. That the Antikythera Mechanism was itself a timekeeping device is beyond irony.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks