Researchers at UCL have solved a key piece of the puzzle that makes up the Greek astronomical calculator called the Antikythera Mechanism, a hand-powered mechanical device used to predict stellar events. knowledge.
Recognized by many as the world’s first analog computer, the Antikythera Mechanism is the most complex piece of engineering that survived the ancient world. The 2,000-year-old tool was used to predict the position of the sun, moon and planets as well as lunar and solar eclipses.
Published in Scientific Reports, the paper from UCL’s multidisciplinary Antikythera Research Team features a new demonstration of the ancient Greek World Order (Cosmos), within a complex cutting system in front of the System.
Lead author Professor Tony Freeth (UCL Mechanical Engineering) explained: “We are the first model that conforms to all physical evidence and matches the descriptions in the scientific writings that are engraved on the Mechanic itself.
“The sun, moon and planets are on display in a tour de force of ancient Greek splendor.”
The Antikythera plant has attracted a great deal of interest and controversy since it was discovered in a Roman shipwreck in 1901 by Greek sponge divers near the small Mediterranean island of Antikythera.
The celestial calculator is a bronze apparatus consisting of a complex combination of 30 remaining bronze gears used to predict celestial events, taking into account including eclipses, lunar phases, planetary position and even Olympic dates.
Although much progress has been made over the past century in understanding how it worked, studies in 2005 using 3D X-rays and surface imaging allowed researchers to show how the Equipment worked. predicting eclipses and measuring the variable movement of the moon.
However, so far, a full understanding of the cutting system in front of the machine has thwarted the efforts of researchers. Only about a third of the Equipment has survived, and it is split into 82 pieces – creating a daunting challenge for the UCL team.
The largest remaining chip, called Fragment A, reveals the features of Bearings, columns and block. Another, called Fragment D, features an unexplained disc, a 63-tooth gear and a plate.
Previous research had used X-ray data from 2005 to hide thousands of text characters inside the cookies, unread for nearly 2,000 years. An inscription on the back cover includes a description of the cosmos display, with the planets moving on rings and marked with signal beads. It was this show that the team worked to rebuild.
Two emergency numbers in the X-rays of the front cover, of 462 years and 442 years, correctly represent circles of Venus and Saturn respectively. Seen from Earth, the orbits of the planets sometimes reverse their movements against the stars. Experts need to monitor these volatile cycles over long periods of time to predict their positions.
“The classical astronomy of the first millennium BC came in Babylon, but nothing in this astronomy suggested how the ancient Greeks discovered the true 462-year circle for Venus and the 442-year circle for Saturn,” he explained. PhD candidate and UCL Antikythera Research Team member Aris Dacanalis.
Using an ancient Greek mathematical method described by the philosopher Parmenides, the UCL team not only explained how the rings for Venus and Saturn were found but also managed to recover the rings of the other planets, where whether the evidence was missing.
PhD candidate and team member David Higgon explained: “After a great struggle, we were able to match the evidence in Fragments A and D to equipment for Venus, which directly models its 462-year planetary time relationship, with the 63-toothed gear playing its vital role. ”
Dr Freeth said: “The team then created innovative all-planetary equipment that would measure the new advanced celestial orbits and reduce the number of gears in the entire system, in order to would they fit into the tight spaces available. “
“This is a major theoretical advancement on how the Cosmos was built in the Equipment,” said co-author Dr. Adam Wojcik (UCL Mechanical Engineering). “Now we need to be able to prove it by doing it with old-fashioned methods. A particular challenge is the system of nesting pipes that carried the astronomical results.”
###
This finding takes the research team a step closer to fully understanding the capabilities of the Antikythera Mechanism and how accurately it was possible to predict events. The instrument is housed at the National Museum of Archeology in Athens.
The UCL Antikythera Research Team is supported by the AG Leventis Foundation, Charles Frodsham & Co. and Clock Makers Worship Company.
The team is led by Dr Adam Wojcik and consists of Professor Tony Freeth, Professor Lindsay MacDonald (UCL CEGE), Dr Myrto Georgakopoulou (UCL Qatar) and PhD candidates David Higgon and Aris Dacanalis (both UCL Mechanical Engineering).
Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! they are not responsible for the accuracy of press releases posted to EurekAlert! by sending institutions or for using any information through the EurekAlert system.