The Antikythera Mechanism, the oldest known astronomical device and Mechanical Universe

Ο Μηχανισμός των Αντικυθήρων
η παλαιότερη γνωστή
αστρονομική συσκευή
και το Μηχανολογικό Σύμπαν

The Antikythera Mechanism, the oldest known astronomical device and Mechanical Universe

By X. Moussas / Ξενοφώντος Μουσά


The Antikythera Mechanism is the oldest known advanced scientific instrument. Without doubt, it is the oldest known analogue computer made with gears and the first known Mechanical Universe and probably Planetarium. Not only was an astronomical instrument suitable for observations, but it also served as a climatological and meteorological device.
Certainly, such devices were in use as educational instruments in Antiquity and possibly operated as a cartographic tool. Made by Greek scientists with appropriate knowledge of astronomy, mathematics, physics, engineering and metallurgy, the bronze geared device enabled the constructor to perform specific calculations with gear trains and the user to find the position of celestial bodies in the sky. It was constructed during the Hellenistic period, probably around 150 to 100 BC.
The Antikythera Mechanism depicts the position of the Sun, the Moon (its phase), predicts eclipses and shows when the Greek Crown Games should occur: the Olympics, the Pythian, the Isthmian, the Nemean, the Naan, some of the very important festivities that enable the common person to keep the time in a functional calendar very useful in agricultural, fishing and hunting.

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