The Antikythera Mechanism
Olympic link to early 'computer'
Thursday, 31 July 2008
A 2,100-year-old 'computer' found in a Roman shipwreck may have
acted as a calendar for the Olympic Games, scientists report in Nature journal.
The Antikythera Mechanism has puzzled experts since its discovery by Greek
sponge divers in 1901.
A team has now found that one of the dials records the dates of the ancient
Olympiad.
The device is made up of bronze gearwheels and dials, and scientists know
of nothing like it until at least 1,000 years later.
The technique of X-ray computed tomography gave the researchers a 3D
view of its 29 surviving gears. High-resolution imaging provided them with
a close-up of tiny letters engraved on the surface.
The device's 'subsidiary dial' was once thought to be a 76-year 'callippic'
calendar.
However, Mr Freeth and his colleagues have now been able to establish from
its inscriptions that it displays the 4-year Olympiad cycle.
In addition, the team was able to identify the names of all 12 months, which
belong to the Corinthian family of months.
Corinth, in central Greece, established colonies in north-western Greece,
Corfu and Sicily, where Archimedes was established.
Archimedes, whose list of exploits included an explanation for
the displacement of water and a screw pump that bears his name today,
died there in 212 BC.
\O/
We know only a tiny percentage of history
The rest being shrouded in veiled mystery
What other wonders may there have been
Now hidden behind time’s silver sheen?
The Antikythera stands as an amazing symbol
Of what can be lost when empires crumble
Looking back we glimpse only a tiny part
Of what was a glorious and awesome art
We see fallen temples with pillars strewn
Great cities of wonder that now lie in ruin
As we walk among time’s chaos
We muse on those links from her to us
They lived and breathed like we, as humans
Hittites, Greeks, Celts, Romans
They lived while the world was in pristine state
Where quiet grandeur was still innate
Far horizons and vistas, pathways of earth
Quiet horse-drawn vehicles to travel with
Nature then more wild and free
Inspiring Man to mythology
But there in that land of antiquity
With only basic skills of technology
Some created this miracle mechanism
Viewing the world with another prism
And what other wonders have been lost to us
Deep under water, all turned to rust?
What breathtaking things will we never know
In time’s ancient land where we cannot go?
By KANEIX
© 2008 KANEIX
(All rights reserved)
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