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The Antikythera Mechanism explained with LEGO!


Viggen

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Two years ago, a paper was published in Nature describing the function of the oldest known scientific computer, a device built in Greece around 100 BCE. Recovered in 1901 from a shipwreck near the island of Antikythera, this mechanism had been lost and unknown for 2000 years. It took one century for scientists to understand its purpose: it is an astronomical clock that determines the positions of celestial bodies with extraordinary precision. In 2010, a fully-functional replica was constructed out of Lego...

 

...read (and watch) the full article at the Guardian

 

 

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I took a couple of (quite crappy) pictures of the mechanism earlier this fall, I could upload them if there's any interest.

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Go for it, Klingan. I'm interested!

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19s3r.jpg

The device itself.

 

2cmtbaa.jpg

The other side.

 

21evorr.jpg

One side of the reconstruction by Derek de Solla Price.

 

i4h0k9.jpg

The other side of the reconstruction.

 

I also managed to find some quotes concerning devices such as this one:

 

 

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It is not only staggering that such a physically and mathematically complex device was constructed so long ago, but also that anyone (even modern scientists with modern computers) could reproduce it from such scant remains! All concerned, both ancient and modern, are deserving of my upmost respect.

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It is not only staggering that such a physically and mathematically complex device was constructed so long ago, but also that anyone (even modern scientists with modern computers) could reproduce it from such scant remains! All concerned, both ancient and modern, are deserving of my upmost respect.

 

Well, the modern reconstruction is impressive, but not undisputed.

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  • 2 weeks later...

It is not only staggering that such a physically and mathematically complex device was constructed so long ago, but also that anyone (even modern scientists with modern computers) could reproduce it from such scant remains! All concerned, both ancient and modern, are deserving of my upmost respect.

 

I agree!

 

And--many thanks to you, Klingan, for those nice photos of the mechanism, and the quotes from Cicero too.

 

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