A 2,000-Year-Old COMPUTER, Found in a Shipwreck #Shorts
Pack: 48 - A 2,000-Year-Old COMPUTER, Found in a Shipwreck
In 1900, sponge divers off the Greek island of Antikythera thought they had found bodies on the seabed. They were statues, and in the cargo was a lump of bronze that turned out to be a geared calculator of the sky. The story in museum photographs of the statues and the fragments, and a published computer reconstruction.
- A diver first thought the statues were human bodies; the ship had sunk around 70–60 BC (National Geographic).
- The lump sat in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens for months until, in May 1902, the former minister Spyridon Stais noticed a gear wheel in it (Jones, in the 2016 inscriptions edition, Almagest).
- Its gears tracked the Sun and Moon and predicted eclipses (Freeth et al., Nature, 2006), and a dial followed the four-year cycle of the Olympic Games (Nature, 2008).
- Built around the end of the 2nd century BC, though the date is debated, it is "more complex than any known device for at least a millennium afterwards" (Nature, 2006).
- 82 fragments survive, about a third of the original, with 30 bronze gearwheels (Freeth et al., Scientific Reports, 2021).
Was it one of a kind, or just the only one that survived? Tell us in the comments. Full story in our documentary, The Full History of Greece. Watch the full documentary: https://youtu.be/k3mrc7OCCNk
Quick answers
What is “A 2,000-Year-Old COMPUTER, Found in a Shipwreck” about?
In 1900, sponge divers off the Greek island of Antikythera thought they had found bodies on the seabed. They were statues, and in the cargo was a lump of bronze that turned out to be a geared calculator of the sky.
What are the key facts?
A diver first thought the statues were human bodies; the ship had sunk around 70–60 BC (National Geographic). The lump sat in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens for months until, in May 1902, the former minister Spyridon Stais noticed a gear wheel in it (Jones, in the 2016 inscriptions edition, Almagest).
What sources is this Short based on?
It cites Freeth et al., "Decoding the ancient Greek astronomical calculator known as the Antikythera Mechanism", Nature 444 (2006); Freeth et al., "Calendars with Olympiad display and eclipse prediction on the Antikythera Mechanism", Nature 454 (2008); Freeth et al., "A Model of the Cosmos in the ancient Greek Antikythera Mechanism", Scientific Reports 11 (2021); National Geographic, Fragments of the Antikythera machine; and 1 more. Links are in the Sources list below.
Sources
- Freeth et al., "Decoding the ancient Greek astronomical calculator known as the Antikythera Mechanism", Nature 444 (2006)
- Freeth et al., "Calendars with Olympiad display and eclipse prediction on the Antikythera Mechanism", Nature 454 (2008)
- Freeth et al., "A Model of the Cosmos in the ancient Greek Antikythera Mechanism", Scientific Reports 11 (2021)
- National Geographic, Fragments of the Antikythera machine
- Linda Hall Library, Scientist of the Day, The Antikythera Mechanism
Images
- The Antikythera Youth, bronze, c. 340–330 BCE — Gary Todd — CC0 —
- Head of the Antikythera Philosopher, bronze, c. 230 BCE — Gary Todd — CC0 —
- Antikythera mechanism, Fragment A (front) — Logg Tandy — CC BY 4.0 —
- Fragment of the Antikythera mechanism with gear teeth — Tilemahos Efthimiadis — CC BY 2.0 —
- Computer model of the front display (reconstruction) — Freeth, Higgon, Dacanalis et al., Scientific Reports 2021 — CC BY 4.0 —
- Modern reconstruction of the front dial beside the fragments — Tilemahos Efthimiadis — CC BY 2.0 —
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