World's oldest computer?

[Gregorian]

"For decades, researchers have been baffled by the intricate bronze mechanism of wheels and dials created 80 years before the birth of Christ."

It's like a 2000 year old wrist watch.

http://www.cdnn.info/news/science/sc060606.html

[Deja Q]

1. Impressive, especially for the time...

[WhiteTara]

8. that sounds like the smart new us

and the dumb old them theory.

But don't forget "They" invented astronomy, agriculture, mathematics, medicine, art, music, architecture and now it sounds like they invented computers too.

Let's see, we invented the atom bomb. I guess that equals all of those other things, because a bomb can destroy everything lickety split. Just look in Iraq. Treasures from the inventors are being smashed to tiny pieces every day.
:rant:

[Posteritatis]

11. That sounds like the dumb new us

and the smart old them theory.

"We" also kinda came up with things like telecommunications, flight, germ theory, evolutionary theory, democracy that functions on a scale larger than a fraction of a city, and the idea that the guys on the other side of the border are human beings just like us.

Oh, and "we" are currently more than the United States under the Bush administration. I know you and others may find it hard to accept at times, but the US is only five percent of this planet's population, and even it isn't defined exclusively in terms of war. Misanthropy and cynicism are cool and emotionally satisfying and all, but not really useful otherwise.

[NYC]

2. I like it.

The team believes the Antikythera Mechanism may be the world's oldest computer, used by the Greeks to predict the motion of the planets.

The researchers say the device indicates a technical sophistication that would not be replicated for millennia and may also be based on principles of a heliocentric, or sun-centred, universe - a view of the cosmos that was not accepted by astronomers until the Renaissance.

...Although at least one Greek thinker posited a heliocentric view of the solar system, the dominant view at the time was Aristotle's - that the Earth was the centre of the universe and that everything rotated around it in perfect, circular orbits.

It was not until 1,400 years later that Copernicus and Galileo conclusively proved the heliocentric view, which greatly altered man's understanding of his importance and position in the universe...

[Poppyseedman]

3. I saw a great show about this on Discovery Channel

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/afp/20060605/astronomycomp_arc.html

[NJCher]

4. Hope they re-broadcast that

Fascinating, and thanks for posting the picture!




Cher

[benburch]

5. Actually, Stonehenge might be the world's oldest computer.

Though that is an interpretation many doubt.

[Gregorian]

7. I thought the same thing.

But it's the moving parts. Stonehenge is boring without any gearwork. :)

[benburch]

9. Well, there were moving stones...

They would move the stones as counters to track eclipse cycles, or so the theory goes.

[Gregorian]

10. Sometimes I think life today is boring in comparison.

Aside from vivisection by brutal dictators.


Thanks for that bit of knowledge. I thought Henge was all stationary. Wrong.

I found the link of this story on a machinists forum I frequent. So it's more of a fascination with the process of manufacture that is intriguing. Hmm, now that i think of it, Stonehenge has more involved manufacturing processes than that computer. But the fascination with this story is about modern manufacturing. It's all very inspiring stuff.

[John1956PA]

6. It's good to see that this object is back in the news.

I remember first becoming aware of the existence of this object (referred to in the article as the "Antikythera Mechanism") while watching one of those Erich von Daniken television specials back in the 1970s. Remember him? He wrote books such as Chariots of the gods? and In Search of Ancient Astronauts which discussed archaeological findings which could be argued to be evidence that earth was visited by extraterrestrials millennia ago. I am happy that his theories have not caught on and that credit for marvels such as the Antikythera Mechanism has been rightfully given to ancient civilizations of terrestrial origin.