Computers in ancient Greece were able to accurately predict the motions of planets and stars more than 1,000 years ago, although they seemed to move backwards through the sky. New search detected.
Antikythera was discovered during a shipwreck off the coast of Greece in the early twentieth century.
Archaeologists immediately suspected that it was a kind of astronomical clock, but due to its complexity, it was found to be the cause of the Renaissance.
Until the second half of the twentieth century, researchers identified it as belonging to ancient Greece – probably from 100 BC to 200 BC – which accurately monitored the movement of the sun and moon and predicted when an eclipse would occur. Is happening.
No other machine of this complexity has yet been discovered, and technology was lost until the Middle Ages.
The movements of Venus and Saturn were found to have been observed by the Antichrist system, when the orbit seen from Earth was seen to travel through the sky.
No one knew until now that the ancient Greeks had this kind of astronomical knowledge, and how it could be programmed into an analog computer somehow intimidated researchers.
“Classical astronomy originated in Babylon in the first millennium BC, but nothing in this astronomy shows how the ancient Greeks discovered the 462-year-old Venus’ wheel and the 442-year-old Saturn’s wheel,” said the doctoral candidate and Antiquity Studies. . University of California team. Member of Aris Dacanalis.
Evidence from X-rays revealed that the system found in fragments had mapped the orbits of all the other planets known to the ancient Greeks.
“After a great deal of struggle, we were able to compare the evidence in the A and D fragments with the Venus mechanism, which accurately reflects the 462-year planetary relationship that played a major role in the gearing of the 63 teeth,” said team member David Higgins. .
The researchers say the next step is to create the real rest of the anti – return mechanism – which they admit is difficult even with modern technology.
“The interlocking piping system that delivers astronomical products will be a particular challenge,” said co-author Adams Voges.
The study was published in scientific reports this week.
He concludes: “The Antikythera system reveals our work as a beautiful concept beautifully designed on a strategic device.”
“It challenges the preconceived notions of the ancient Greeks about technological possibilities.”
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