Friday, March 23, 2012

The Antikythera Mechanism



antikythera-mechanism.grMore than a hundred years ago an extraordinary mechanism was found by sponge divers at the bottom of the sea near the island of Antikythera. It astonished the whole international community of experts on the ancient world.

For decades, scientific investigation failed to yield much light, however research over the last half century has begun to reveal its secrets.

The machine dates from around the end of the 2nd century B.C. and is the most sophisticated mechanism known from the ancient world. Nothing as complex is known for the next thousand years. The Antikythera Mechanism is now understood to be dedicated to astronomical phenomena and operates as a complex mechanical “computer” which tracks the cycles of the Solar System.

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