The Antikythera Mechanism and the early history of mechanical computing

Abstract

Summary form only given, as follows. Doing arithmetic has probably been necessary since civilization began. We now know that the ancient Greeks were able to make mechanical devices capable of calculation. The Antikythera Mechanism is an extraordinary device containing over thirty gear wheels dating from the 1st century BC, and is an order of magnitude more complicated than any surviving mechanism from the following millennium. It is clear from its structure and inscriptions that its purpose was astronomical, including eclipse prediction. In this illustrated talk, I will show the results from our international research team, which has used modern imaging methods to probe its functions and details. The Mechanism's design is very sophisticated. I will outline how its technology may have almost disappeared from sight for over a thousand years and then been extended to more general mechanical clocks, calculators and computers from around 1200 AD through to the 19th century.