Posted: Fri Dec 01, 2006 2:45 pm
"The oldest known computer, a scientific conundrum for more than a century, did not yield its secrets easily. Only after the most recent innovations were employed, including a $500,000 imaging system constructed in situ, was the mystery of its 81 corroded and mineralized components solved.
Its journey began perhaps 2100 years ago, at the height of Roman Republic, and ended on the sea bed near Crete, waiting two millenia to be recovered by a sponge diver in 1902. It originated, perhaps, from the island of Rhodes, renowned in classical times for its automata and mechanical follies. The Antikythera mechanism, however, was more than a toy: the team of scientists behind the expensive new research announced this week that that they'd solved the puzzle of its purpose, confirming that the mechanical computer was designed to track the movements of heavenly bodies, specifically the sun, moon and planets. "
From WIRED:
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2006/11/i ... e_ant.html
This is the link to HP Labs' gallery of the mechanism:
http://www.hpl.hp.com/research/ptm/anti ... index.html
Its journey began perhaps 2100 years ago, at the height of Roman Republic, and ended on the sea bed near Crete, waiting two millenia to be recovered by a sponge diver in 1902. It originated, perhaps, from the island of Rhodes, renowned in classical times for its automata and mechanical follies. The Antikythera mechanism, however, was more than a toy: the team of scientists behind the expensive new research announced this week that that they'd solved the puzzle of its purpose, confirming that the mechanical computer was designed to track the movements of heavenly bodies, specifically the sun, moon and planets. "
From WIRED:
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2006/11/i ... e_ant.html
This is the link to HP Labs' gallery of the mechanism:
http://www.hpl.hp.com/research/ptm/anti ... index.html