Now youve all heard of this ANTIKYTHERA Mechanism an analog computer type machine made 2,100 years ago & designed to predict celestial phenomena & calculate astronomical positions. THIS is the sole witness to a lost history of brilliant engineering, a conception of pure genius and one of the great wonders of the ancient world. Perhaps we will find more! Im a big fan & Ive included some of its details as Ive found the reference to which it makes somewhat fascinating! The mechanism is remarkable for the level of miniaturization and the complexity of its parts, which is comparable to that of 14th-century astronomical clocks. It has at least 30 gears, although the Greeks of this period were capable of implementing a system with many more gears. This Lego reproduction version is about 100 times larger but its cute! The Antikythera mechanism was recovered in 1900–1901 from the Antikythera wreck but its significance and complexity were not understood until a century later. The construction has been dated to the early 1st century BC. Technological artifacts approaching its complexity and workmanship did not appear again until the 14th century AD, when mechanical astronomical clocks began to be built in Western Europe. *Professor Michael Edmunds of Cardiff University, who led a 2006 study of the mechanism, said: This device is just extraordinary, the only thing of its kind. The design is beautiful, the astronomy is exactly right. The way the mechanics are designed just makes your jaw drop. Whoever has done this has done it extremely carefully ... in terms of historic and scarcity value, I have to regard this mechanism as being more valuable than the Mona Lisa.—30 November 2006* ~The Antikythera mechanism is kept at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens~ The mechanism was housed in a wooden box and comprised 30 bronze gears. This machine has the oldest known complex gear mechanism and is sometimes called the first known analog computer, although the quality of its manufacture suggests that it may have had undiscovered predecessors during the Hellenistic Period. It appears to be constructed upon theories of astronomy and mathematics developed by Greek astronomers and is estimated to have been made around 100 BC. All of the mechanisms instructions are written in Koine Greek, and the consensus among scholars is that the mechanism was made in the Greek-speaking world. Recent findings of The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project suggest the concept for the mechanism originated in the colonies of Corinth, since some of the astronomical calculations seem to indicate observations that can be made only in Corinth area of ancient Greece. Syracuse was a colony of Corinth and the home of Archimedes, which might imply a connection with the school of Archimedes. Another theory states that coins found by Jacques Cousteau in the 1970s at the wreck site and dated to the time of the construction of the device, suggest that its origin may have been from the ancient Greek city of Pergamon. Pergamon was also the site of the famous Library of Pergamum which housed many scrolls of art and science. The Library of Pergamum was only second in importance to the Library of Alexandria during the Hellenistic period. The ship carrying the device also contained vases that were in the Rhodian style. On the front of the mechanism, there is one dial with two confirmed pointers, but, due to references on the inscriptions, there might have been as many as eight pointers. One for the day of the year and the rest representing the orbital positions for Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and the Moon, although no fragments have been found to confirm this. It has been confirmed that the pointer for the moon also rotates on its axis to show its phase along with its position, although it is not clear whether the Sun position pointer would have been separated from a date pointer, or whether any planetary positions might have been displayed. Since the purpose was to position astronomical bodies with respect to the celestial sphere, in reference to the observers position on the Earth, the device was based on the geocentric model. Front face ~ The front dial has two concentric circular scales. The outer ring is marked off with the days of the 365-day Egyptian calendar, or the Sothic year, based on the Sothic cycle. On the inner ring, there is a second dial marked with the Greek signs of the Zodiac and divided into degrees. The calendar dial can be moved to compensate for the effect of the extra quarter day in the solar year by turning the scale backwards one day every four years. A 3651⁄4-day year was used in the Callippic cycle about 330 BC and in the Decree of Canopus in 238 BC. A few of the following months are inscribed, in Greek letters, on the outer ring: Mecheir-Phamenot -Pharmout Pacho-Payni-Epeiph-Mesore-Epagomene-Thoth-Phaoph-Hathyr-Choiak-Tybi In addition, the following Zodiac signs appear on the inner ring: ΟN, ΧΗΛΑΙ, ΣΚΟΡΠΙΟΣ. Thus, the complete Zodiac, which is believed to be tropical as opposed to sidereal, would be: Front panel of a 2007 reproduction. ΚΡIOΣ (Aries) ΤΑΥΡΟΣ (Taurus) ΔIΔΥΜΟΙ (Gemini) ΚΑΡΚIΝΟΣ (Cancer) ΛEΩΝ (Leo) ΠΑΡΘEΝΟN (Virgo) ΧΗΛΑΙ (Scorpios Claw, i.e., Libra) ΣΚΟΡΠΙΟΣ (Scorpio) ΤΟΞΩΤΗΣ (Sagittarius) ΑIΓOΚΕΡΩΣ (Capricorn) YΔΡΟΧOΟΣ (Aquarius) IΧΘΕIΣ (Pisces) Other inscriptions on the front dial are: {Κ} Evening {Λ} ~The Hyades set in the evening ~Μ Taurus begins to rise~ N Vega rises in the evening~ Θ The Pleiades rise in the morning~ Ο The Hyades rise in the morning~ Π Gemini begins to rise ~Ρ Altair rises in the evening ~Σ Arcturus sets in the morning Finally, the front dial includes a parapegma, a precursor to the modern day almanac, which was used to mark the rising and setting of specific stars. Each star is thought to be identified by Greek characters which cross-reference details inscribed on the mechanism. In July 2008, scientists reported new findings in the journal Nature showing that the mechanism tracked the Metonic calendar, predicted solar eclipses, and calculated the timing of the Ancient Olympic Games. Inscriptions on the instrument closely match the names of the months on calendars from Illyria and Epirus in northwestern Greece and with the island of Corfu. On the back of the mechanism, there are five dials: the Metonic, the Olympiad, the Callippic, the Saros and the Exeligmos. The Metonic Dial is the main upper dial. It is a 19-year calendar with a total of 235 months. Each month is written over two or three lines within one of the 235 cells spread over a spiral with five turnings. The Corinthian months are:ΦΟΙΝΙΚΑΙΟΣ (Phoinikaios)ΚΡΑΝΕΙΟΣ (Kraneios)ΛΑΝΟΤΡΟΠΙΟΣ (Lanotropios)ΜΑΧΑΝΕΥΣ (Machaneus)ΔΩΔΕΚΑΤΕΥΣ (Dodekateus)ΕΥΚΛΕΙΟΣ (Eukleios)ΑΡΤΕΜΙΣΙΟΣ(Artemisios)ΨΥΔΡΕΥΣ (Psydreus)ΓΑΜΕΙΛΙΟΣ (Gameilios)ΑΓΡΙΑΝΙΟΣ (Agrianios)ΠΑΝΑΜΟΣ (Panamos)ΑΠΕΛΛΑΙΟΣ (Apellaios) The Olympiad Dial is the right secondary upper dial. The dial is divided into four sectors, each of which is inscribed with a year number and the name of two Panhellenic Games: the crown games of Isthmia, Olympia, Nemea, and Pythia; and two lesser games: Naa (held at Dodona) and another games which has not yet been deciphered. The years on each one of the four divisions are:LA (Year 1)LB (Year 2)LΓ (Year 3)L∆ (Year 4) The names given to each of these four divisions are:ΙΣΘΜΙΑ, ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑ (corresponding to year 1)NEMEA, NAA (corresponding to year 2)ΙΣΘΜΙΑ, ΠΥΘΙΑ (corresponding to year 3) ΝΕΜΕΑ, undeciphered text (corresponding to year 4) The Callippic Dial is the left secondary upper dial, which follows a 76-year cycle, quadrupling the Metonic dial. The Saros Dial is the main lower dial. It is an 18-year calendar with a total of 223 lunar months. Each month is represented by one of the 223 cells spread over a spiral with four turnings. This dial predicts eclipses and the predictions are shown in the relevant months as glyphs, which indicate lunar and solar eclipses and their predicted times of day. There are 51 glyphs, specifying 38 lunar and 27 solar eclipses. The glyph times are still incomplete. Beneath each glyph is an index letter. Some of the index letters are: Σ = ΣΕΛΗΝΗ (Moon) Η = ΗΛΙΟΣ (Sun) H\M = ΗΜΕΡΑΣ (of the day)ω\ρ = ωρα (hour) N\Y = ΝΥΚΤΟΣ (of the night) Moreover, the divisions on the inside of the dial at the cardinal points indicate the start of a new full moon cycle. The Exeligmos Dial is the secondary lower dial. It is a 54-year triple Saros dial. The labels on its three divisions are: Blank, which represents the number zero. H (number 8) Iς (number 16) So the dial pointer indicates how many hours must be added to the glyph times of the Saros Dial in order to get the exact eclipse times. Doors The mechanism has a wooden casing with a front and a back door. The Back Door appears to be the Instruction Manual. 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!
Posted on: Wed, 23 Oct 2013 07:40:54 +0000
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