Mell When did we find the Antikythera mechanism?
1901
The Antikythera Mechanism has baffled experts since it was found on a Roman-era shipwreck in Greece in 1901. The hand-powered Ancient Greek device is thought to have been used to predict eclipses and other astronomical events.
What is the Antikythera mechanism?
The Antikythera Mechanism is a cultural treasure that has engrossed scholars across many disciplines. It was a mechanical computer of bronze gears that used ground-breaking technology to make astronomical predictions, by mechanizing astronomical cycles and theories1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9.
When and where was the Antikythera mechanism used?
The instrument is believed to have been designed and constructed by Greek scientists and has been variously dated to about 87 BC, or between 150 and 100 BC, or to 205 BC, or to within a generation before the shipwreck, which has been dated to approximately 70–60 BC.
What is the Antikythera mechanism and when was it dated to?
The Antikythera mechanism is an ancient mechanical analog computer (as opposed to digital computer) designed to calculate astronomical positions. It was discovered in the Antikythera wreck off the Greek island of Antikythera, between Kythera and Crete, and has been dated to about 150-100 BC.
What did the Antikythera mechanism look like?
The Antikythera mechanism was similar in size to a mantel clock, and bits of wood found on the fragments suggest it was housed in a wooden case. Like a clock, the case would’ve had a large circular face with rotating hands. There was a knob or handle on the side, for winding the mechanism forward or backward.
Where did the Antikythera mechanism come from?
Parts of the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient Greek mechanical device recovered in 1901 from the wreck of a trading ship that sank in the 1st century bce near the island of Antikythera, in the Mediterranean Sea; in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.
Where is the Antikythera Mechanism?
National Archaeological Museum of Athens
Parts of the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient Greek mechanical device recovered in 1901 from the wreck of a trading ship that sank in the 1st century bce near the island of Antikythera, in the Mediterranean Sea; in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.
Where did the Antikythera Mechanism come from?
Where is the Antikythera mechanism found?
Where is the Antikythera mechanism?
the National Archaeological Museum of Athens
Today, the Antikythera mechanism is housed is in the Bronze Collection of the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. A replica of the mechanism is also on view at the American Computer Museum in Bozeman, Montana. When Jacques-Yves Cousteau made his last visit to the shipwreck in 1978, he found no additional pieces.
Who invented the Antikythera mechanism?
Hipparchus
The inventor of trigonometry may have also created the Antikythera mechanism. Hipparchus is primarily known as an ancient astronomer; he was born in what is now Turkey around 190 BCE and worked and taught primarily on the island of Rhodes. His works survive almost entirely through later Greek and Roman authors.
What was the purpose of the Antikythera mechanism?
Editorial credit: imagIN.gr photography / Shutterstock.com. The Antikythera Mechanism is a 2,000-year-old analog computer device that dates back to Ancient Greece. It was used to track the position of the moon and the sun, to predict the occurrence of eclipses, and to signal the old Olympic Games.
When was the Antikythera mechanism discovered by sponge divers?
The Antikythera Mechanism was discovered inside an ancient shipwreck by Greek sponge divers in 1901. After numerous studies, it was estimated to have been constructed between 150 BC and 100 BC.
How long has Antikythera been at the bottom of the sea?
The ancient machine had been buried at the bottom of the sea for approximately 2,100 years. It consisted of bronze gears and other metallic mechanical parts, which had once moved smoothly but were rusty or encrusted with tarnish. For decades, archaeologists and scientists attempted to discover what the complex mechanism was made for.
When did Spirydon Stais find the Antikythera mechanism?
It was May 17, 1901 when Spirydon Stais, a Greek politician, visited a museum which housed treasures from an ancient shipwreck. Among them was a round, green-encrusted piece of metal which caught his eye, as it looked like nothing else taken up from the bottom of the sea surrounding the tiny Greek island of Antikythera.