More than 2,000 years ago, a Roman ship was wrecked near the island of Antikythera. The waters of the Aegean Sea hid its treasures until 1900.
On April 4, 1900, the ship was discovered by the Greek diver Lycopantis. For 10 months, divers took out various artifacts from the seabed - antique statues, coins, jewelry, dishes, furniture and musical instruments. Among other things, an unknown object the size of a shoebox was raised to the surface, covered with a thick layer of dirt and growths. Divers had no idea how surprising this find would be.
For more than 50 years he was gathering dust in the museum of Athens before scientists paid attention to him and began to study it closely.
Antikythera mechanism, front view.
This small object, made of an alloy of copper and tin, is called the "Antikythera mechanism". In terms of its complexity, it was equal to the devices invented a millennium later!
Presumably, it was built in 200 BC. The mechanism performed more than 40 operations - a real technological miracle of the pre-Christian era.
In fact, the mechanism was the first analog computer. It allowed precise astronomical and mathematical calculations to be performed based on the methods developed by the ancient Greeks. Despite the fact that scientists have fought over the history of the mechanism for decades, neither the identity of its creator, nor the function of the mechanism on the ship have been clarified.
Oddly enough, many researchers dismissed the theory that the device was a navigation device. The harsh sea conditions may have damaged some sensitive parts of the machine. In addition, features such as predicting eclipses and Olympic dates are not the most important pieces of information in shipping.
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At the same time, the compactness of the device allowed and implied its movement. It is likely that the mechanism was a kind of "cheat sheet" in astronomy for those who "limped" knowledge in this area.
Rear view of the mechanism.
The mechanism worked as follows: using a special gear, it is necessary to set a specific date. When the gears stop rotating, you can see a lot of different information: the position and phase of the Moon, Sun, stars and planets, the date of the upcoming Olympic Games, the coming solar and lunar eclipses, and much more. It is surprising that the mechanism assumed one extra day every 4 years even before the introduction of the Julian calendar.
Although this artifact is one of a kind, such mechanisms are mentioned more than once in written sources. Apparently, it was not created in a single copy.
It is believed that such devices were built by Archimedes of Syracuse and the astronomer Hipparchus. But whoever the builder was, he was obviously Greek. This is evidenced by the written instructions affixed to the face of the instrument.
Today, the Antikythera Mechanism is housed in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, and a replica of it can be seen at the American Computer Museum in Bozeman.
In 1978, Jacques-Yves Cousteau made a final visit to the shipwreck site, but found no additional elements. However, the device has not revealed all of its secrets and continues to amaze scientists and researchers.