Sunday, May 23, 2010

The Antikythera Mechanism

There are 82 remaining fragments of the mechanism
that contain a total of 30 gears. The largest piece
contains 27 of the gears.

X-ray image

The Antikythera mechanism is a unique mechanical calculator from second-century B.C. Greece. Its sophistication surprised archaeologists when it was discovered in 1901. But no one had anticipated its true power.
Advanced imaging tools have finally enabled researchers to reconstruct how the device predicted lunar and solar eclipses and the motion of the moon in the sky.
Inscriptions on the mechanism suggest that it might have been built in the Greek city of Syracuse (now in modern Sicily), perhaps in a tradition that originated with Archimedes.

Clicking on the x-ray image will expand
it then it will expand one more time.
You can see a small phillips head screw
on the lower right hand side. You can
also see lots of gears like a watch.

This thing is amazing.
It is very hard to believe that this
thing is more than 2000 years old.

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