In April 1900, a group of Greek sponge divers dived near the island of Antikytera. Elias Stadiatos, a member of this group of divers, discovered an ancient shipwreck near a small island called Antikythera in Greece. Was a freighter that sank in about 87 BC. At the bottom of the sea, the sculptures scattered around the shipwreck affected the sponge very much. Among the cargo carried by the ship were jewels, urns, furniture, bronze items and amphorae full of wine.
1 BC. it was a ship carrying luxury consumer goods for people living in the century. The most valuable find among those recovered from the wreck was a wooden box with wheels that were crushed and intertwined, decayed by the effect of salt water. Inside this box, about the size of a shoebox, was a kind of mechanical assembly. During the years of the wreck, as there were no methods for preserving wooden finds, the box broke down and disappeared soon after it was removed.
In 1959, Derek J. of Yale University A historian of Science named De Solla Price wrote a scientific article describing this mechanism. In this article, he also included drawings of the operation of the assembly. At that time, Greek archaeologists began to study the device with the help of gamma rays. Solla Price suggested that the device was made by the ancient Greek astronomer Geminus of Rhodes. This thesis was not accepted by other experts of the period. Because, according to experts of that period, the ancient Greeks did not have the technology to design the assembly and make the wheels, even if they had the theoretical knowledge to make such a assembly.
According to price, this device resembles a computer. This mechanism is a very wonderfully made astronomical clock or analog computer of the modern era. You could see 12 symbols of the Zodiac on the mechanism and do astronomical calculations. In addition, the mechanism could display 365 days. It had a structure with a lunar calendar.
According to experts, the Antikythera device was used not only to show the location of celestial bodies, but also to calculate the anniversaries of various events. However, as with the previous ones, it may never be known how suitable this new device is. However, this latest version of the device is also consistent with what some ancient writers describe about the ancient Greek world. For example, 1 BC. in the century, Cicero was talking about a device made by his friend named Poseidoneus. This device showed the positions of The Sun, Moon and five planets in the sky. A pearl-sized ball on the mechanism showed you the moon.
The Antikythera Assembly shows that the ancient Greeks had the technology to make complex mechanical assemblies. According to some experts, this technology was later transferred to the Arab world and then moved to Europe. Today, the original Antikythera Assembly is on display at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, Greece. Next to it is also a copy of the works made by experts. Another copy of the device is on display at the American Computer Museum in Montana, USA.
Post a Comment