Scientific American: “An Ancient Greek Astronomical Calculation Machine Reveals New Secrets”

The device is unique among discoveries from its time. It single-handedly rewrites our knowledge of the technology of the ancient Greeks. We knew they were highly capable—they built the Parthenon and the Lighthouse of Alexandria even earlier than the Antikythera mechanism. They had plumbing and used steam to operate equipment. But before the discovery of the Antikythera mechanism, ancient Greek gears were thought to be restricted to crude wheels in windmills and water mills. Aside from this discovery, the first precision-geared mechanism known is a relatively simple—yet impressive for the time—geared sundial and calendar of Byzantine origin dating to about C.E. 600. It was not until the 14th century that scientists created the first sophisticated astronomical clocks. The Antikythera mechanism, with its precision gears bearing teeth about a millimeter long, is completely unlike anything else from the ancient world.

Why did it take centuries for scientists to reinvent anything as sophisticated as the Antikythera device, and why haven’t archaeologists uncovered more such mechanisms? We have strong reasons to believe this object can’t have been the only model of its kind—there must have been precursors to its development. But bronze was a very valuable metal, and when an object like this stopped working, it probably would have been melted down for its materials. Shipwrecks may be the best prospects for finding more of them. As for why the technology was seemingly lost for so long before being redeveloped, who knows? There are many gaps in the historical record, and future discoveries may well surprise us.

Tony Freeth

Fascinating device – and fascinating to wonder how it was developed, and then completely lost to the tides of history. I have to assume very few people had the knowledge and skills to build this mechanism, and that these were lost before the Romans took over Greece – otherwise the Romans would have probably found the means to produce more of them and they would have left a bigger footprint in archeological records. I would love to see someone recreating this mechanism with modern tools to see it in action and validate these findings, maybe even make it available for purchase as an advanced astronomical clock.

Exploded view of the Antikythera mechanism shows internal gears color-coded by the celestial bodies they were used to track. Credit: Tony Freeth and Jen Christiansen (graphic), UCL Antikythera Research Team (model)