Tuesday, December 22, 2015

2000 Year Old Computer Recovered From A Shipwreck

This scientific computer was lost for 2000 years but it was recovered from a shipwreck in 1901



The so-called Antikythera Mechanism is the oldest known scientific computer, built in Greece at around 100 BCE. The scientific computer was lost for 2000 years but it was recovered from a shipwreck in 1901. But its purpose remained a mystery for almost a century. Now 100 years later its purpose is finally understood: an astronomical clock that determines the positions of celestial bodies with extraordinary precision. And as you can see in the video above a team built in 2010 a fully-functional replica out of Lego, pretty amazing right?!


But how does it work? Well two thousand years ago, a Greek mechanic set out to build a machine that would model the workings of the known Universe. The result was a complex clockwork mechanism that displayed the motions of the Sun, Moon and planets on precisely marked dials. By turning a handle, the creator could watch his tiny celestial bodies trace their undulating paths through the sky.
To learn more about this amazing ancient scientific computer, be sure to watch the documentary below!


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