[SCC_Active_Members] The Antikythira Machine: ancient Greek computer

[Gust, Kathe]

Hello Henry -
 
I knew about the existence of the mechanism, but when I first read about
it no one had yet figured out what it was for.  It was assumed
to be some type of navigational instrument (which perhaps it is) but was
not restored enough to make a guess at how it worked.  That
was 30 or so years ago.  It shows up in National Geographic from time to
time in articles on excavations at Thera since it makes for 
a nice photo of something more unusual than marble statuary and ruins.
The existence of the mechanism in conjunction with a major
volcanic eruption is one of the reasons some people think Thera was the
original "Atlantis" in the old stories
 
Kathe

________________________________

From: scc_active-bounces at computerhistory.org
[mailto:scc_active-bounces at computerhistory.org] On Behalf Of H.M.
Gladney
Sent: Sunday, December 11, 2005 7:53 PM
To: SCC at CHM
Subject: [SCC_Active_Members] The Antikythira Machine: ancient Greek
computer


Sometimes we even learn something new from "the idiot box."  New to me,
at least, and potentially of CHM interest.  Possibly known to most
listeners on this list-serve.  In case you did not see the program today
on the History Channel, there follows some material dredged up after we
saw it.
 
Apparently the ancient Greeks had a machine that anticipated and outdid
the Babbage machine, although the Greek version was exclusively geared
for astronomical calculations.  Called the Antikithira Machine (after
the village in whose harbor its remains were discovered in 1901), it is
described in the attached MS Word file and in Web pages that you can
link from that.
 
I am curious--had any CHM worker known of this machine, and is there
anything in the collection about it?
 
Best wishes, Henry
 
H.M. Gladney, Ph.D.     http://home.pacbell.net/hgladney/
<http://home.pacbell.net/hgladney/>     HMG Consulting
 
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