Ancient Greek Technology 1,000 Years Early
Posted on November 29, 2006 Comments (3)
Ancient Moon ‘computer’ revisited
Writing in Nature, the team says that the mechanism was “technically more complex than any known device for at least a millennium afterwards”.
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the Moon sometimes moves slightly faster in the sky than at others because of the satellite’s elliptic orbit. To overcome this, the designer of the calculator used a “pin-and-slot” mechanism to connect two gear-wheels that introduced the necessary variations.
“When you see it your jaw just drops and you think: ‘bloody hell, that’s clever’. It’s a brilliant technical design,” said Professor Mike Edmunds.
Larger image via Hellenic Ministry of Culture
Related: An Ancient Computer Surprises Scientists – High tech helps solve mystery of ancient calculator
3 Responses to “Ancient Greek Technology 1,000 Years Early”
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February 11th, 2008 @ 8:53 pm
“despite 90 years of effort by some of the world’s best code breakers, no one has been able to decipher Voynichese, as the script has become known. The nature and origin of the manuscript remain a mystery…”
May 6th, 2008 @ 6:46 pm
“how could a Neolithic people with simple canoes and no navigation gear manage to find, let alone colonize, hundreds of far-flung island specks scattered across an ocean that spans nearly a third of the globe?…”
October 18th, 2008 @ 11:35 am
It is “the most important ancient Roman monument to come to light for 20 or 30 years”, said senior archaeologist Daniela Rossi…