The Antikythera mechanism is a 2,000-year-old computer. 115 years ago, divers found a hunk of bronze off a Greek island. It changed our understanding of human history.
One hundred fifteen years ago, an archeologist was sifting through objects found in the wreck of a 2,000-year-old vessel off the Greek island Antikythera. Among the wreck’s treasures — beautiful vases and pots, jewelry, a bronze statue of an ancient philosopher — was the most peculiar thing: a series of brass gears and dials mounted in a case the size of a mantel clock. Archeologists dubbed the instrument the Antikythera mechanism. The genius — and mystery — of this piece of ancient Greek technology, arguably the world’s first computer, is why Google is highlighting it today in a Google Doodle.
The fragments of the Mechanism were discovered in 1901 by sponge divers near the island of Antikythera. It is kept since then at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, Greece. For more than a century, researchers were trying to understand its functions.
When was the Antikythera mechanism found?
The Antikythera Mechanism discovery. Sometime before Easter 1900 a Greek sponge diver discovered the wreck of an ancient cargo ship off Antikythera island which is located to the north-west of Crete in the Dodecanese.
What is the Antikythera mechanism used for?
The Antikythera mechanism (/ˌæntᵻkᵻˈθɪərə/ ANT-i-ki-THEER-ə or /ˌæntᵻˈkɪθərə/ ANT-i-KITH-ə-rə) is an ancient analogue computer and orrery used to predict astronomical positions and eclipses for calendrical and astrological purposes, as well as the Olympiads, the cycles of the ancient Olympic Games.