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Ancient astronomy: Mechanical inspiration
Nature ^ | 24 Nov 2010 | Jo Marchant

Posted on 11/25/2010 2:11:38 AM PST by Palter

The ancient Greeks' vision of a geometrical Universe seemed to come out of nowhere. Could their ideas have come from the internal gearing of an ancient mechanism?

Two thousand years ago, a Greek mechanic set out to build a machine that would model the workings of the known Universe. The result was a complex clockwork mechanism that displayed the motions of the Sun, Moon and planets on precisely marked dials. By turning a handle, the creator could watch his tiny celestial bodies trace their undulating paths through the sky.

The mechanic's name is now lost. But his machine, dubbed the Antikythera mechanism, is by far the most technologically sophisticated artefact that survives from antiquity. Since a reconstruction of the device hit the headlines in 2006, it has revolutionized ideas about the technology of the ancient world, and has captured the public imagination as the apparent pinnacle of Greek scientific achievement.

Now, however, scientists delving into the astronomical theories encoded in this quintessentially Greek device have concluded that they are not Greek at all, but Babylonian — an empire predating this era by centuries. This finding is forcing historians to rethink a crucial period in the development of astronomy. It may well be that geared devices such as the Antikythera mechanism did not model the Greeks' geometric view of the cosmos after all. They inspired it.

The remains of the Antikythera mechanism were salvaged from a shipwreck in 1901 (see 'Celestial mirror from the deep') and are now held in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.

(Excerpt) Read more at nature.com ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; History; Science
KEYWORDS: antikythera; antikytheramechanism; astronomy; godsgravesglyphs; greece; science
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21 posted on 11/25/2010 6:23:06 AM PST by SunkenCiv (The 2nd Amendment follows right behind the 1st because some people are hard of hearing.)
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To: norwaypinesavage

I’ve not been impressed over the years with the level of discussion about the Antikythera mechanism (not that anyone asked me of course), but there’s nothing in the working replica of it to indicate that it’s based on anything but a fairly short period of observations done more or less locally (Aegean), and given that it’s a maritime culture, probably wasn’t built for ceremonial purposes, but as an aid to figure out the tides.

There’s a topic on FR about recent finds on the thing, including Greek place names, and the claim that it was used to figure out when the Olympics were going to take place. I’m pretty sure though that the Greeks knew how to count to four, and wouldn’t need a machine to tell them when to hold the Olympics.

The problem with the thing is that it’s unique; the exact date of its construction has been debated over the years, but the range of years during which its mechanism would have been accurate shows when it was made (probably on the early end of that range).


22 posted on 11/25/2010 6:23:45 AM PST by SunkenCiv (The 2nd Amendment follows right behind the 1st because some people are hard of hearing.)
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To: Upstate NY Guy

“I often think about how smart and resourceful our ancestors must have been. These people figured out how to survive the Ice Age with only stone tools. I wonder how many people living today could figure out how do that?”

The dumb and unresourceful ones perished or were supported by the smart and resourceful. It obviously isn’t as if the entire tribe of man was smart and resourceful at the time....

Same events are happening today; how many people do you know that are almost incapable of surviving in today’s society unless they have someone around them almost literally holding their hand?


23 posted on 11/25/2010 6:30:43 AM PST by macquire
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To: Palter

ping for later reading


24 posted on 11/25/2010 6:43:13 AM PST by TYVets
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To: Palter
It seems very probable -- the Babylonians were nutz about astronomy -- they also invented the 360 degrees for a circle and that's why we have 360+5 days in a year.

Though, this also pre-dated the Babylonian Empire and may have been Sumerian in origin, when the Sumerians were various city states, not an Empire.
25 posted on 11/25/2010 6:56:58 AM PST by Cronos (Matt 24:13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved)
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To: macquire

I suspect during the centuries of the last Ice Age the human population level became very low, maybe only 5000 people at the end. I’m not sure the smart and resourceful people would have tolerated supporting too many dumb and unresourceful people. We may never know.


26 posted on 11/25/2010 7:17:07 AM PST by Upstate NY Guy (Gen 15:16 The iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.)
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To: Palter


From http://sites.google.com/site/archaicaudio/archaicaudio/vintage-computers, where there are lots of wonderful mugshots of ancient (20th c) technological devices. :)

27 posted on 11/25/2010 7:28:33 AM PST by 668 - Neighbor of the Beast (Just say NO to Janetal patdowns.)
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To: Palter

Recommended reading, Krupp’s “Echoes of the Ancient Skies.” Great survey of archaeoastronomy for those not so heavily addicted to the subject.
(For those who are....Hamlet’s Mill, hands down!)
EAS is more general and leans toward archaeological evidence in various cultures.


28 posted on 11/25/2010 7:37:41 AM PST by 668 - Neighbor of the Beast (Just say NO to Janetal patdowns.)
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To: Palter

I trust that graphic is just a theoretical reconstruction, because it’s got Venus in opposition to the Sun and from a geocentric perspective, dat don’t happen! Just sayin. ;)


29 posted on 11/25/2010 7:44:09 AM PST by 668 - Neighbor of the Beast (Just say NO to Janetal patdowns.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Since King Solomin was smelting copper a thousand years before the Antikythera mechanism (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2632982/posts)
it doesn’t seem at all unlikely that someone could make a brass mechanism a thousand years later.


30 posted on 11/25/2010 9:12:07 AM PST by norwaypinesavage (Galileo: In science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of one individual)
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To: Palter
The craftsmanship of the device is what astounds me. You have a series of gears with hundrede of teeth, all of which have to mesh PERFECTLY in order to work. The least imperfection will bind the mechanism - and all the teeth were cut by hand.


31 posted on 11/25/2010 9:21:46 AM PST by Oatka ("A society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves." –Bertrand de Jouvenel)
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To: Oatka
Photobucket
32 posted on 11/25/2010 9:35:28 AM PST by null and void (We are now in day 674 of our national holiday from reality. - 0bama really isn't one of US.)
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To: Oatka
Lilely the gears were held in a clamp with indexing mark for filing guidance.

A number of more modern craftmen produced fine results with simple tools and steady hands.

33 posted on 01/27/2011 5:02:35 PM PST by hoosierham (Waddaya mean Freedom isn't free ?;will you take a credit card?)
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