<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:st1="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"> <head> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> <meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 11 (filtered medium)"> <o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="Street"/> <o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="address"/> <o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"/> <o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"/> <o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceName"/> <o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceType"/>  <style>  </style>  </head> <body bgcolor=white lang=EN-GB link=blue vlink=blue> <div class=Section1> <o:p> </o:p> Yup. My understanding tallies i.e. that the device was intended to model the known planetary universe so as to predict the position of the sun and planets on any given date. If this is correct the gear ratios would be fixed and the device would not have been programmable. In present-day terms it would be an analog calculator.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> All best<o:p></o:p> Doron<o:p></o:p> <div> Doron D. Swade <o:p></o:p> <st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">54 Park Road</st1:address></st1:Street> <st1:City w:st="on">Kingston</st1:City> upon <st1:place w:st="on">Thames</st1:place> <st1:place w:st="on">Surrey</st1:place> KT2 6AU Tel:        0208 392 0072 <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Mobile</st1:place></st1:City>:  07973 122 666 Email:   doron.swade@blueyonder.co.uk   <o:p></o:p> </div> <div> <div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'> <hr size=2 width="100%" align=center tabindex=-1> </div> From: James McClure [mailto:jamesmcclure@comcast.net] Sent: 12 December 2005 20:25 To: 'SCC at CHM'; 'H.M. Gladney'; 'Gust, Kathe'; Doron Swade Subject: Re: [SCC_Active_Members] The Antikythira Machine: ancientGreekcomputer<o:p></o:p> </div> <o:p> </o:p> <div> Dr. Swade, et al. - <o:p></o:p> </div> <div>  <o:p></o:p> </div> <div> Am I right in understanding that this fascinating oojah would have been an analog device similar in function ( if not in external form ) to an orrery, and not "programmable?"  It sounds as if it might have solved an arbitrary problem by "passing through" all of the available gearbox configurations between a starting configuration that illustrated the relationships of the planets at some arbitrary time and the configuration illustrating the relationships of the planets at the time of interest.  Is that how others understand it?  <o:p></o:p> </div> <div>  <o:p></o:p> </div> <div> Cheers<o:p></o:p> </div> <div>  <o:p></o:p> </div> <div> Jim McClure<o:p></o:p> </div> <blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid black 1.5pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 4.0pt; margin-left:3.75pt;margin-top:5.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:5.0pt'> <div> ----- Original Message ----- <o:p></o:p> </div> <div style='font-color:black'> From: <a href="mailto:doron.swade@blueyonder.co.uk" title="doron.swade@blueyonder.co.uk">Doron Swade</a> <o:p></o:p> </div> <div> To: <a href="mailto:kathe.gust@hp.com" title="kathe.gust@hp.com">'Gust, Kathe'</a> ; <a href="mailto:hgladney@gmail.com" title="hgladney@gmail.com">'H.M. Gladney'</a> ; <a href="mailto:scc_active@computerhistory.org" title="scc_active@computerhistory.org">'SCC at CHM'</a> <o:p></o:p> </div> <div> Sent: Monday, December 12, 2005 11:38 AM<o:p></o:p> </div> <div> Subject: RE: [SCC_Active_Members] The Antikythira Machine: ancientGreekcomputer<o:p></o:p> </div> <div> <o:p> </o:p> </div> Hello. There is a new analysis of the Antikythera mechanism by Michael Wright, formerly of the <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Science</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Museum</st1:PlaceType> in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">London</st1:City></st1:place>, now a free-lance mechanician. Using tomography techniques to ‘see’ otherwise hidden information in the surviving relic he has advanced understanding of how it may have worked and what it was likely to have been used for. He has also built a working reconstruction incorporating his findings. A non-technical report appeared in the Economist in 2002 and can be found at <a href="http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=1337165">http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=1337165</a>. I am in touch with Michael should anyone want more detail. I believe the work on the Antikythera mechanism is ongoing – it was a few months ago.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Best wishes<o:p></o:p> <div> Doron<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Doron D. Swade (Dr) (PhD, MSc, C.Eng, FBCS, CITP) Visiting Professor (Interaction Design)     <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Royal</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">College</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> of Art Visiting Professor (Computer Science)    <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType> of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Portsmouth</st1:PlaceName></st1:place> <st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">54 Park Road</st1:address></st1:Street> <st1:City w:st="on">Kingston</st1:City> upon <st1:place w:st="on">Thames</st1:place> <st1:place w:st="on">Surrey</st1:place> KT2 6AU Tel:        0208 392 0072 <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Mobile</st1:City></st1:place>:  07973 122 666 Email:   doron.swade@blueyonder.co.uk   <o:p></o:p> </div> <div> <div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'> <hr size=2 width="100%" align=center tabIndex=-1> </div> From: scc_active-bounces@computerhistory.org [mailto:scc_active-bounces@computerhistory.org] On Behalf Of Gust, Kathe Sent: 12 December 2005 17:09 To: H.M. Gladney; SCC at CHM Subject: RE: [SCC_Active_Members] The Antikythira Machine: ancient Greekcomputer<o:p></o:p> </div> <o:p> </o:p> Hello Henry -<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> 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<o:p></o:p> 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<o:p></o:p> 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 <o:p></o:p> a nice photo of something more unusual than marble statuary and ruins.  The existence of the mechanism in conjunction with a major<o:p></o:p> volcanic eruption is one of the reasons some people think Thera was the original "Atlantis" in the old stories<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> Kathe<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'> <hr size=2 width="100%" align=center tabIndex=-1> </div> From: scc_active-bounces@computerhistory.org [mailto:scc_active-bounces@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<o:p></o:p> <div> 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.<o:p></o:p> </div> <div>  <o:p></o:p> </div> <div> 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.<o:p></o:p> </div> <div>  <o:p></o:p> </div> <div> I am curious--had any CHM worker known of this machine, and is there anything in the collection about it?<o:p></o:p> </div> <div>  <o:p></o:p> </div> Best wishes, Henry<o:p></o:p>  <o:p></o:p> H.M. Gladney, Ph.D.     <a href="http://home.pacbell.net/hgladney/">http://home.pacbell.net/hgladney/</a>    HMG Consulting<o:p></o:p> <div>  <o:p></o:p> </div> <div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'> <hr size=2 width="100%" align=center> </div> _______________________________________________ SCC_active mailing list SCC_active@computerhistory.org http://mail.computerhistory.org/mailman/listinfo/scc_active<o:p></o:p> </blockquote> </div> </body> </html>