Working Antikythera Model

By Ali S. in Art, Gadgets, Hacks & Mods, Science & Tech, Video Clips on Dec 14, 2008 at 6:55 pm


[YouTube - Link]

I’m sure most of you know at least something about the mysterious Antikythera Mechanism that was found at the bottom of the sea in 1901 near the island of Antikythera (from where the device took its name) and is estimated to have been built between 150-100 BC by an unknown builder. Famed for its mysterious and significantly advanced gear mechanism and complex build the Antikythera Mechanism was eventually found to be a computing calender and clock of sorts for the planets. Which may have been useful to sailors as would be evidenced by why the device was found among the carcass of a sunken ship.

Fast forward to the modern age and we find curator Michael Wright with the first fully functional working model of the Antikythera Mechanism in the World. To imagine that such advanced and complex machines were being built so long ago has fascinated and helped reshape ancient history and knowledge. The mystery concerning this device has increased as archaeologists and scientists wonder why they have only found this sole machine in the past century and why there is no recorded information regarding its creator.


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  1. Nicholas Dollak
    Dec 14th, 2008 at 9:26 pm

    About time! I loved the computer animation of the Antikythera Mechanism that was posted here (or on BoingBoing) a few months back, and thought it would be great if someone actually were to build a working replica. Are there any plans to release a model kit? Or even schematics for the DIY-types?

  2. liphttam1
    Dec 14th, 2008 at 9:36 pm

    Nuh uh! Johhny cat, THAT IS EXTREEMLY COOl!!!! :0

  3. Christophe
    Dec 14th, 2008 at 11:21 pm

    I was somehow disapointed when they discovered that it was “only” for atronomy ;)

  4. Johnny Cat
    Dec 15th, 2008 at 12:29 am

    Nuh uh-uh! liphttam1, that is SO EXTREMELY COOL…so much coolness it will turn vodka to ice.

  5. K!P
    Dec 15th, 2008 at 5:13 am

    nice! only thing is: i fail to grasp the importance of an (for that time) expensive eclips predictor on board ships.

  6. biltmore
    Dec 15th, 2008 at 3:00 pm

    Well K!P, it was probably on a ship because it was being transported somewhere.

  7. K!P
    Dec 15th, 2008 at 4:46 pm

    dunno, it seems handy to know the moon stands on a ship) (higwater is related to that) maybe an eclips also implies something nautical i dont know off.

  8. jodie
    Dec 15th, 2008 at 5:23 pm

    now that’s super NEAT (o-rama)! i just read about this over at cracked.com this morning and i was looking around the internets for something just like this – ie a working model. thanks for entertaining me and enlightening me every single day.

  9. Ali S.
    Dec 15th, 2008 at 6:17 pm

    My honest guess regarding this device that perhaps it could have been used for religious or ceremonial purposes. Nothing says, “I am a God!” to the masses then by pointing at the sky and having an eclipse occur. :) But then again I do have a vivid imagination.

    Glad to see so many of you folks are enjoying this. Remember there are stranger things out there that science has yet to explain. ;) *eerie music*

  10. WordyGrrl
    Dec 15th, 2008 at 11:53 pm

    Amazing to see a working model… Makes you wonder how many other techological marvels of the ancients have disappeared because they were melted down just for the metal value.

  11. Harv
    Dec 16th, 2008 at 11:14 am

    it’s there somewhere a DIY Antikitera Astronomical Clock ?

    In “The Internet’s” perhaps?. …=D

    Awesome


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