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An ancient Greek computer more than 1,000 years ahead of its time was able to accurately predict the movements of planets and stars, even when they appeared to be moving backwards across the sky, new research shows.
The Antikythera Mechanism was discovered during a shipwreck off the coast of Greece in the early 20th century.
Archaeologists immediately suspected that it was some sort of astronomical clock, but thought it was likely a Renaissance origin due to its complexity.
It was not until the second half of the 20th century that researchers realized that it dated back to ancient Greece – probably around 100 BC-200 BC – and that it accurately traced the movement of the sun and the moon, predicting when eclipses would occur.
No other machine of such complexity dating so far has ever been found, the technology having been lost until the end of the medieval era.
It has now been discovered that the Antikythera Mechanism also follows the movements of Venus and Saturn – including when their orbit, when viewed from Earth, seemed to travel backwards through the sky.
Until now, no one knew that the ancient Greeks possessed this kind of astronomical knowledge, let alone how to program it into an analog computer – leaving researchers perplexed.
“Classical astronomy of the first millennium BC originated in Babylon, but nothing in that astronomy suggested how the ancient Greeks found the very precise cycle of 462 years for Venus and 442 years for Saturn,” said the doctoral student and the research team of UCL Antikythera. member Aris Dacanalis.
Evidence the researchers uncovered using x-rays revealed that the mechanism, which was found in pieces, also mapped the orbits of all other planets known to the ancient Greeks.
“After a considerable struggle, we were able to match the evidence for fragments A and D to a mechanism for Venus, which models exactly its 462-year planetary period relationship, with the 63-tooth gear playing a crucial role,” he said. said David Higgons, team member. .
AM gear diagram (courtesy Adler Planetarium, Chicago).
The next step, the researchers say, is to build a physical recreation of the Antikythera Mechanism – something they admit will be difficult, even with modern technology.
“A particular challenge will be the nested tube system that carried the astronomical outputs,” said study co-author Adam Wojcik.
The research was published this week in the journal Scientific Reports.
“Our work reveals the Antikythera mechanism as a beautiful design, translated by superb engineering into a genius device,” he concludes.
“It challenges all of our preconceptions about the technological capabilities of the ancient Greeks.”
On this day in 1902, the Antikythera Mechanism was discovered
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