The Antikythera Mechcanism Ancient Computer ?

Advanced Ancient technologies lost in time!!! For the geeks who think 19th century was the beginning of innovation and technology one should remember our civilization began over more than 7000BC and there are many discoveries like Precise architecture of Pyramids of Egypt, precision Mayan calendar and Parthenon, Antikythera mechanism of Greeks to name a few how smart was our ancestors at that time....

In 1900 the artifact Antikythera mechanism was found in the wreck by the divers at the
bottom of sea near the island of Antikythera between Kythera and Crete...

Many scientists originally thought the Antikythera Mechanism was a piece of navigational equipment. Little did they know it would be one of the most important scientific measuring devices ever discovered.However research over the last half century has begun to reveal its secrets. It dates from around the 1st century B.C. and is the most sophisticated mechanism known from the ancient world. Nothing as complex is known for the next thousand years. The Antikythera Mechanism is now understood to be dedicated to astronomical phenomena and operates as a complex mechanical "computer" which tracks the cycles of the Solar System.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau visited the wreck for the last time in 1978,[4] but found no more remains of the Antikythera Mechanism. Professor Michael Edmunds of Cardiff University who led the study of the mechanism said: "This device is just extraordinary, the only thing of its kind. The design is beautiful, the astronomy is exactly right. The way the mechanics are designed just makes your jaw drop. Whoever has done this has done it extremely carefully." and added: "in terms of historic and scarcity value, I have to regard this mechanism as being more valuable than the Mona Lisa.

The mechanism is the oldest known scientific instrument. It has several accurate scales, and is essentially an analog computer made with gears. It is based on theories of astronomy and mathematics developed by Greek astronomers. Based on the shape of the Greek letters used in the manual of the instrument, it is estimated that it was constructed around 150 to 100 BC. The circumstances under which it came to be on the cargo ship are unclear. The ship is estimated to have sunk between 80 to 60 BC and was a Roman or Greek ship with cargo for Rome, perhaps part of official loot. It contained more than 100 statues similar to the ones the Romans took to Italy after their conquest of Greece.

Consensus among scholars is that the mechanism itself was made in Greece. All the instructions of the mechanism are written in Greek.The device is remarkable for the level of miniaturization and complexity of its parts, which is comparable to that of 18th century clocks. It has over 30 gears, although some have suggested as many as 70 gears, with teeth formed through equilateral triangles. When a date was entered via a crank (now lost), the mechanism calculated the position of the Sun, Moon or other astronomical information such as the location of other planets.

It is possible that the mechanism is based on heliocentric principles, rather than the then-dominant geocentric view espoused by Aristotle and others. The heliocentric view proposed by Aristarchus of Samos (310 BC - c. 230 BC) did not receive widespread recognition, but provides for the possibility of the existence of such a system at this time.

The mechanism has three main dials, one on the front, and two on the back.The front dial is marked with the divisions of the Egyptian calendar, or the Sothic year,based on the Sothic cycle. Inside this there is a second dial marked with the Greek signs of the Zodiac. This second dial can be moved to adjust, with respect to the Sothic dial, to compensate for leap years. Note that the Julian calendar, the first calendar of the region to contain leap years, was not invented until about 50 B.C., up to a century after the device was said to have been built. The front dial probably carried at least three hands, one showing the date, and two others showing the positions of the Sun and the Moon. The Moon indicator is ingeniously adjusted to show the first anomaly of the Moon's orbit. It is reasonable to suppose the Sun indicator had a similar adjustment, but any gearing for this mechanism (if it existed) has been lost. The front dial also includes a second mechanism with a spherical model of the Moon that displays the Lunar phase.There is reference in the inscriptions for the planets Mars and Venus, and it would have certainly been within the capabilities of the maker of this mechanism to include gearing to show their positions. There is some speculation that the mechanism may have had indicators for the 5 planets known to the Greeks. None of the gearing, except for one unaccounted gear, for such planetary mechanisms survives.

Finally, the front dial includes a parapegma, a precursor to the modern day Almanac, which was used to mark the rising and setting of specific stars. Each star is thought to be identified by Greek characters which cross reference details inscribed on the mechanism.

The upper back dial is in the form of a spiral, with 47 divisions per turn, displaying the 235 months of the 19 year Metonic cycle. This dial contains a smaller subsidiary dial which displays the 76 year Callippic cycle. (There are 4 Metonic cycles within 1 Callippic cycle.) Both of these cycles are important in fixing calendars.

The lower back dial is also in the form of a spiral, with 223 divisions showing the Saros cycle; it also has a smaller subsidiary dial which displays the 54 year "Triple Saros" or "Exeligmos" cycle. (The Saros cycle, discovered by the Chaldeans, is a period of approximately 18 years 11 days 8 hours -- the length of time between occurrences of a particular eclipse.) One hypothesis is that the device was constructed at an academy founded by the ancient Stoic philosopher Posidonius on the Greek island of Rhodes, which at the time was known as a center of astronomy and mechanical engineering. Investigators have suggested that the ship could have been carrying it to Rome, together with other treasure looted from the island to support a triumphal parade being staged by Julius Caesar.

As the new finds of the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project suggest that it was made around 150 to 100 BC, well before the time of Posidonius, it is possible that the great astronomer Hipparchus is behind the genius engineer who constructed it. Hipparchus was at that time the most important astronomer and worked for a long period in Rhodes, Greece. The Mechanism contains a lunar mechanism which uses Hipparchus' theory for the motion of the Moon and this also suggests strong ties of the Mechanism to Hipparchus.

Currently work is still underway to completely decipher the inscriptions found on the inside of the Antikythera Mechanism. The final interpretation is to be released to the public in the near future.

What do you guys say? was our ancestors were way a head of their time and how could the ancient technology lost in the transitions of time gap?

pic1 shows: original artifact and pic2 on the right modern day reproduction

Source:wiki and antikytheramechanism.org