Ancient Astronomical Clock
December 6th, 2006
When they weren’t conquering the Aegean world, writing epics, and inventing democracy, the ancient Greeks cultivated an advanced knowledge of the natural world; so advanced, in fact, scientists are only now fully appreciating it. In this month’s edition of the journal Nature, a group of scientists announce the discovery of the Antikythera Mechanism, an 82-piece brass astronomical calculator so complex, it wouldn’t be rivaled for over a thousand years.
Using 37 different gears, the Antikythera Mechanism could add, multiply, divide and subtract. It was also able to align the number of lunar months with years and display where the sun and the moon were in the zodiac, a movement that required knowledge of the moon’s elliptical orbit. It could even predict lunar and solar eclipses.
So raise an amphora of ouzo to the ancient Greeks today, in honor of their achievement.
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