The KhroniclesThe Bilingual Community Newspaper |
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'Η Δίγλωσση Τοπική Εφημερίδα ΣαςΤα Χρονικά |
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| ISSUE NO. 52 | AUGUST 2010 | WWW.KO-GO.GR | ||
The KhroniclesThe Bilingual Community Newspaper |
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'Η Δίγλωσση Τοπική Εφημερίδα ΣαςΤα Χρονικά |
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| ISSUE NO. 52 | AUGUST 2010 | WWW.KO-GO.GR | ||
 The Khronicles on Facebook 
The Khronicles A division of Ko-Go Επιχειρήσεις Box 332 Publisher: Sofia Klidi Editor: Lou Duro Associate Editors: Tony & Christine Bowes Web Editor John McLaren Sales: Maria Aretaki Contributors/ Renie Spykerman, Petra Karreman, Maria Daskalaki, John McLaren, Bob Bayes, Father Dimitris Mihouthis, Father Leonidas Hatzakis, Vasiliki Alexaki-Hronaki, Niki Yiamalaki, Nikolaos Papadakis, Spyros Hatzakis, Panagiota Giannopoulou, Evi Karvounaki, Maria Aretaki Translations: Ada Vamvoukaki Photographer: Sami Moudavaris Layout & Design: George Drakakis Printed By: G Detorakis
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And
now,
the astonishing history of the world’s first computer, the Antikythera
Mechanism, is currently being displayed at the
The
exhibition presents the history together with the operations of the
Mechanism, as well as aspects of ancient astronomy and technology essential
for understanding its operation. The Mechanism has puzzled and
intrigued science and technology historians since it was recovered from an
80 BC wreck off the In 1901, sponge divers working off the island found the remains of a clock like mechanism 2,000 years old. The mechanism now appears to have been a device for calculating the motions of stars and planets. Dated to about 150-100 BC, the
intricacy of the way in which the Mechanism works was so startling to
scientists that initially they questioned the device's dating, doubting it
could be as old as it really was. Technological artefacts of similar
complexity did not reappear before the 14th century, when mechanical
astronomical clocks first appeared in
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The device is about 33 cm high, 17
cm wide, and 9 cm thick, made of bronze and originally mounted in a wooden
frame. It was inscribed with a text of over 2,000 characters, many of which
have only just recently been deciphered. It has three main dials, one on the front, and two on the back. The front dial has two concentric scales. The outer ring is marked off with the days of the 365-day Egyptian calendar. Inside this, there is a second dial marked with the Greek signs of the Zodiac and divided into degrees. The calendar dial can be moved to compensate for the effect of the extra quarter day in the solar year (there are 365.2422 days per year) by turning the scale backwards one day every four years. Worthy of note is that the Julian calendar, the first calendar of the region to contain leap years, was not introduced until about 46 BC, up to a century after the device was said to have been built. The complexity of the gears found within the Antikythera Mechanism baffled scientists, since this type of "technology" was not thought to have been in existence until around 1575, while many feel that the Mechanism helps to explain how such wonderful phenomena as the ancient pyramids, the Greek Coliseum, and the Parthenon were built with such exquisite detail. In fact, one scientist commented jokingly that this device was so well constructed, he doubted the ancient Greeks ever had to say: "My computer is down."
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