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Calendars with Olympiad display and eclipse prediction on the Antikythera Mechanism

Author

Listed:
  • Tony Freeth

    (Antikythera Mechanism Research Project, 3 Tyrwhitt Crescent, Roath Park, Cardiff CF23 5QP, UK
    Images First Ltd, 10 Hereford Road, South Ealing, London W5 4SE, UK)

  • Alexander Jones

    (Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, 15 East 84th Street, New York, New York 10028, USA)

  • John M. Steele

    (University of Durham, Rochester Building, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK)

  • Yanis Bitsakis

    (Antikythera Mechanism Research Project, 3 Tyrwhitt Crescent, Roath Park, Cardiff CF23 5QP, UK
    Centre for History and Palaeography, 3, P. Skouze str., GR-10560 Athens, Greece)

Abstract

Antikythera mechanism: 'oldest computer' an Olympic calendar The Antikythera Mechanism, a 2,000-year-old jumble of bronze gears and sea accretions, was recovered from a shipwreck discovered off the coast of the Greek island, Antikythera in 1900. Sometimes dubbed the world's oldest 'computer', it provides a glimpse of the engineering prowess of the Hellenic world. New interpretations of the mechanism reveal how it could predict eclipses, that it was probably made in a colony of Corinth, possibly even Syracuse — home of Archimedes — and that it had a dial recording the times of the ancient Olympiads.

Suggested Citation

  • Tony Freeth & Alexander Jones & John M. Steele & Yanis Bitsakis, 2008. "Calendars with Olympiad display and eclipse prediction on the Antikythera Mechanism," Nature, Nature, vol. 454(7204), pages 614-617, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:454:y:2008:i:7204:d:10.1038_nature07130
    DOI: 10.1038/nature07130
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    Cited by:

    1. Tony Freeth, 2019. "Revising the eclipse prediction scheme in the Antikythera mechanism," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(1), pages 1-12, December.

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