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UCL researchers solved a major piece of the puzzle that made up the ancient Greek astronomical calculator known as the Antikythera Mechanism, a hand-held mechanical device that was used to predict astronomical events.
Known by many as the world’s first analog computer, the Antikythera Mechanism is the most complex piece of engineering to survive in the ancient world. The 2,000-year-old device has been used to predict the positions of the Sun, Moon, and planets as well as lunar and solar eclipses.
Posted in Scientific reports, the article by the multidisciplinary research team at UCL Antikythera reveals a new representation of the ancient Greek order of the Universe (Cosmos), within a complex gear system at the front of the mechanism .
Lead author Professor Tony Freeth (Mechanical Engineering, UCL) explained, “Ours is the first model that meets all physical evidence and matches the descriptions of the scientific inscriptions carved into the mechanism itself.
“The Sun, the Moon and the planets are displayed in an impressive tour de force of ancient Greek brilliance.
The Antikythera Mechanism has generated both fascination and intense controversy since its discovery in a Roman-era shipwreck in 1901 by Greek sponge divers near the small Mediterranean island of Antikythera.
The Astronomical Calculator is a bronze device that consists of an intricate combination of 30 surviving bronze gears used to predict astronomical events, including eclipses, moon phases, planetary positions, and even Olympic Games dates.
While great strides have been made over the past century in understanding how it works, studies in 2005 using 3D X-rays and surface imaging allowed researchers to show how the mechanism predicted eclipses and calculated motion. variable of the Moon.
However, until now, a full understanding of the gear system on the front of the device has eluded researchers’ best efforts. Only about a third of the mechanism has survived and is split into 82 fragments – creating a tall order for the UCL team.
The largest surviving fragment, known as Fragment A, exhibits characteristics of bearings, pillars, and a block. Another, known as Fragment D, features an unexplained disc, a 63-tooth gear, and a plate.
Previous research had used X-ray data from 2005 to reveal thousands of text characters hidden inside the fragments, unread for nearly 2,000 years. The inscriptions on the back cover include a description of the display of the cosmos, the planets moving on rings and indicated by marker beads. It is this exhibition that the team worked to reconstruct.
Two critical numbers in the front cover x-rays, 462 years and 442 years, accurately represent the cycles of Venus and Saturn respectively. When observed from Earth, the cycles of the planets sometimes reverse their movements against the stars. Experts must follow these variable cycles over long periods of time in order to forecast their positions.
“Classical astronomy of the first millennium BC originated in Babylon, but nothing in this astronomy suggested how the ancient Greeks found the very precise cycle of 462 years for Venus and 442 years for Saturn,” explained the doctoral student and the research team of UCL Antikythera. member Aris Dacanalis.
Using an ancient Greek mathematical method described by the philosopher Parmenides, the UCL team not only explained how the cycles of Venus and Saturn were derived, but also succeeded in recovering the cycles of all the other planets, where the evidence was lacking.
PhD student and team member David Higgon explained, “After 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. “
Professor Freeth added: “The team then created innovative mechanisms for all the planets that would calculate the new advanced astronomical cycles and minimize the number of gears in the whole system, so that they fit into them. limited spaces available.
“This is a key theoretical breakthrough in how the Cosmos was constructed in the Mechanism,” added co-author Dr Adam Wojcik (UCL Mechanical Engineering). “We now have to prove its feasibility by making it with old techniques. A particular challenge will be the interlocking tube system that carried the astronomical outputs. “
Header image credit: Gary Todd – Public domain
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