Guest post by The findings, published in Nature, are probably best described as “mind blowing.” Devices with this level of complexity were not seen again for almost 1,500 years, and the Antikythera mechanism’s compactness actually bests the later designs. Probably built around 150 B.C., the Antikythera mechanism can perform a number of functions just by turning a crank on the side.
Old news are very old.
http://io9.com/5441889/advanced-imaging-reveals-a-computer-1500-yea…
That article is dated 1/08/10 7:00am
I rememeber reading about this device years ago. Very fascinating stuff.
Yeah, I’ve seen like 3 or 4 tv specials over the last decade about this thing.
The Discovery channel has done shows on this device in more than 20 years. It is even in the “History Channel” mockumentary series “Ancient Aliens”. It has been a source of speculation since the device was found 1901, but that it is similar to the renaissance mechanical astrological calendars is quite certain to been know even at the time of discovery.
PBS’s NOVA series has a good documentary on it – I’m just going to go ahead and say it’s the best documentary, since NOVA is generally much higher quality than much of the stuff Discovery puts out, even 10 or 15 years ago.
http://video.pbs.org/video/2364988981/
Hopefully it’s not restricted to viewing in the US.
It does appear to be restricted to US viewers only. Or at least, those people who have an IP which happens to GeoIP to the US.
Like this one, and conclude by yourself :
http://christthetao.blogspot.fr/2011/02/loftrino-new-meme-discovere…
To troll or not to troll. However the facts are here, so many books and science burned in the name of, well, you know…
Kochise
The mongols did the same to Bagdad.
Edited 2014-01-02 15:55 UTC
At the very least you could have linked to the Lego version of it http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/10/apple-engineer-uses-lego-to-rebu…
Could they really patent it while there is a prior art ?
Kochise
I believe the patent comment was just Engadget being snarky. But if someone were trying to patent such a thing the couldn’t patent the basic mechanism (because as you say it already exists), but could patent a new and novel implementation of the same function
“Antikythera mechanism can perform a number of functions just by turning a crank on the side”
The first click wheel?
The first, but not the best:
http://tinyurl.com/y86jvsu
Didn’t I read somewhere that an early live-install version of Slackware was also encased in the underwater encrustation?
LOL. I’d up-vote that if I could.
It was the original development machine for GNU/Hurd. The signature of Rho-Mu-Sigma himself is engraved on one of the wheels.
ah, GNU/Hurd development: 2,500 years down, only 2,500 more years to go!
As for it being old news obviously yes, however I hadn’t heard about this until now.
Eventhough this is old news, I would have liked to click on the link which is nowhere to be found btw.
One of those cool mysteries that I’ve known about for a while, there are many objects like this that show that our current culture/civilization may not be the most advanced one.
Am I correct that this is the same thing that was shown in Discovery channel lastly(or NatGeo, am not sure which channel)? However, this discovery is not at all surprising given that the ancients and the Greeks in particular are well-known mathematicians, they knew geometry well.
Exactly.
The showed tools looks like “not more than” an astrolab.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrolab
Probably a beautiful and complex one, but not as extraordinary.
Anyway, the mastering of mathematics and precision was needed to built this one.
It’s a marvel in engineering more than anything because of the scale and precision. Additionally the device tracked a ton of different events which only makes it that much more impressive.
I’ve seen several documentaries about it. Pretty amazing the thing was found in the first place. We already know ancient civilizations were more advanced than we could have imagined but to have a real surviving piece of advanced ancient technology is amazing. That device was created ages ago by human hands and we’re privileged to still have it. Very cool stuff.
Alexandrea and Ephesus were the two cities with the largest libraries of their time and were only surpassed only in the last 100 years.
Unfortunately both cities were attacked and most of the contents of both libraries were lost.
How many inventions were lost when the scrolls were burned. This device would have been lost to us too.
We often think of different periods in history as being very primitive. Devices like this make us realize how wrong we were/are.
Who knows what other history, other inventions are lost?
we say that but as soon as someone invents a time machine and goes back to look at those books that were lost they will find inches and inches (they were scrolls) of penis drawings 🙂
Edited 2014-01-04 00:46 UTC
Yup.
http://io9.com/bizarre-and-vulgar-illustrations-from-illuminated-me…
And cats.
Clearly our ancient ancestors were involved in DNA and genetic manipulation!
What’s really amazing is how they had such precise measurements of Earth, our solar system, and other celestial objects, most of which we only know anything about thanks to high tech devices.
I’ve pondered that since I was a little kid. Fascinating stuff.
Another example of long-lost knowledge and tech, later rediscovered like the nukes mentioned in Mahabharata.