The Antikythera Mechanism
Aaron Littleton
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By Aaron Littleton
Production Coordinator / TriCities.com
Published: July 31, 2008
One hundred years ago, a machine was dredged from a shipwreck in the Greek isles that was believed to have come from circa 150 BC. A book sized, hand cranked mechanism, the Antikythera mechanism was very recently determined to calculate time and the dates of the ancient Olympic games. Using 3D scans of the instrument, scientists are hoping to build a working replica.
When I first learned of this machine some months ago, I was very intrigued by the whole thing - you could say my mind was blown. Here was clear, concrete evidence of advanced scientific principles being put to use by a culture that we believed held no such technical skill.
It is no surprise that many have put forth the Antikythera mechanism as an out-of-place artifact, even suggesting that such a mechanism is proof that advanced cultures artificially advanced technology of ancient civilizations.
While there’s no clear answer on the creator or their intentions, what the mechanism and its ilk does show us is that such ancient societies definitely had the technical know-how and advanced metallurgical methods to create gear-based calculation machines thousands of years before Charles Babbage began working on his “engines”.
What do you think? Is the Antikythera mechanism a natural thing to emerge from the societies of 150 BC, or is this a product of a higher intelligence attempting to artificially progress technology on Earth?
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Reader Reactions
Posted by ( karl ) on August 11, 2008 at 4:41 pm
If you Google “Antikythera mechanism” you get a lot of hits. What should be the most authoritative, by the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project (http://www.antikythera-mechanism.gr/), has a lot of information and links, but is a terribly conceived website and very difficult to browse, although it can effectively (eventually!) answer a lot of questions. The FAQs pretty much summarize the consensus opinion (although inexcusably tedious to browse!).
A website by the HP imaging team that worked on the project (http://www.hpl.hp.com/research/ptm/antikythera_mechanism/) is fascinating for its demonstration of directional lighting and surface enhancement techniques. A must see!
There is apparently a lot of collaborative data on the existence of advanced technology at that time. I think that once a society has grown beyond the level of basic survival, then intellectual advancement becomes not so difficult. Unfortunately, for many today survival is still an issue, and so we have difficulty conceiving that the ancients could have developed such knowledge.
Posted by ( zeta ) on August 08, 2008 at 11:57 am
The idea that the mechanism was used to track the Olympic games is merely conjecture. The device itself is astronomical in nature, modeling the movements of planets around the sun. Yes, that’s right, it’s (remarkably) based on heliocentricism as opposed to the then dominant geocentric model.
Posted by ( karl ) on August 07, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Think about this, Zeta, “not been meant for human hands”? Aliens are going to make a mechanical calculator to determine the dates of the Olympic games? That doesn’t sound reasonable or plausible. Aliens would surely have computers, don’t you think? And why would they even care about the Olympic games?
The History channel is constantly showing things that are turning up from ancient societies that show more advanced technological abilities than we are used to accepting. I think a lot of understanding has existed for a long time, but the overall support for widespread utilization of technologies has taken a long time to develop. A mechanical device requires primarily an understanding of mathematics. Electronics, however, require manufacturing technologies, power grids, economic systems, and all kinds of support structures that have only sprung up since the industrial revolution.
I see no evidence whatsoever in this of alien intervention.
Posted by ( zeta ) on August 05, 2008 at 10:24 am
These out-of-place artifacts that display an overly advanced technological level for their time aren’t really all that unusual once you begin to look at the mounting evidence for extra-terrestrial intervention in human development. The real question is why didn’t this technology resurface until a thousand years later? This particular piece could have possibly not been meant for human hands.