“Ancient Computers”
By Scott Hamilton
I can remember from all my studies in computer science that the very first computer was considered to be the Abacus, which was heavily used in Babylon between 300-500 BC. We never really studied many other ancient computer technologies, but I recently came across a new one. I really wish we had read about it in the computer history books, because it is quite fascinating.
A group of divers searching for sea sponges off the coast of a small Greek island in 1901 came across the sunken wreckage of a ship. Somewhere between Kythera and Crete, a sailing vessel went down, most likely during one of the harsh Mediterranean storms. They decided it was worth exploring more and recovered a fascinating device from the wreckage. The device was named the Antikythera mechanism and was badly damaged. The seemingly complex device among the wreckage at first seemed out of place, however, no one has seen anything like it before or since the discovery.
The early speculation was that this device operated as an ancient computer to assist in some complex calculations. What remained of the device consisted of 37 bronze gears stored inside a wooden box. There was clear evidence that despite the device being over 2,200 years old it still fit within the capabilities of the proper time period. Bronze was widely used and bronze workers had learned to work with the material in very fine details. However, this speculation of it being a computer was written off as being improbable.
It was not until 1970 that researchers started working diligently to find out what the device could possibly have been used for. You see, up until then, we did not have the proper technology to examine the device without causing damage. In the 1970s several new technologies existed that allowed researchers to see inside objects without disassembling them. The studies conducted in 1970 still did not find how the device was utilized, but they did know it was used for complex mathematical algorithms due to the precision with which the gears were designed.
In 2021, a group of researchers examined the Antikythera mechanism by utilization of high resolution CT scans, which revealed a mind-boggling complexity. Not only was the device expertly manufactured, but utilized nearly all the knowledge known at the time in regards to astronomy. There have been several attempts made to recreate the device, but as of today there only exists computer generated models of the device.
The reconstruction of the device showed that it was an astrological clock that not only could allow one to determine the precise time by matching the location of celestial bodies, but also be able to predict the future location of these objects. It was a very accurate model of the solar system as it was understood at the time of its invention. The device was capable of showing and predicting the location of the five known planets, the phases of the moon and both lunar and solar eclipses. However, it was also using the much more complex model of the solar system in which the earth was at the center. It was not until 1543, nearly 2000 years after this device was built, that Nicolaus Copernicus’ theory was published placing the Sun at the center of the solar system and vastly simplifying the mathematical model of the solar system.
Not only was the Antikythera mechanism advanced for its time, incorporating the cycles from Babylonian astronomy, mathematics from Plato’s academy and Greek astronomical theories, but it would even be considered advanced by today’s standards. Having only 82 heavily corroded fragments to work with, it has taken 123 years of effort to discover the original intent of the device, which could only be done by figuring out how to fit all the gears into an interlocking mechanism that fit in a wooden box the size of a shoe box. Talk about a complex 3-D puzzle.
It was a University College London team that claims to have figured out the complex arrangement of gears and proven through computer simulation that the device was an astronomical clock. They were the first group to successfully orient the gears in such a way that it matched the inscriptions on the device, making it clear that there were some missing pieces to the puzzle. There were only 30 gears remaining and the team had to manufacture seven additional gears to get a functional model. The only remaining question in the research is if the ancient Greeks could have manufactured the complex set of concentric rings nested on hollowed axels without modern-day lathes to shape the metal.
Until next week, stay safe and learn something new.
Scott Hamilton is an Expert in Emerging Technologies at ATOS and can be reached with questions and comments via email to sh*******@te**********.org or through his website at https://www.techshepherd.org.