APOD 2.8- The Antikythera Mechanism

This device was found at the bottom of the ocean in an ancient Greek ship. Scientists have identified the find as an ancient antikythera mechanism, a clock-like tool that could have been used as an orrery which would calculate the positions of stars and planets, possibly even retrograde motions. It could have also predicted solar and lunar eclipses. This discovery is remarkable since scientists believed that these kind of technologies were not developed until at least 1000 years later.The antikythera mechanism also provides evidence that the Greeks in the Hellenistic Age were far more intelligent and advanced than any other culture. The device is remarkable also for the reasons that it is cast from one single sheet of low-tin bronze and is made of series of gears and parts that resemble the second hands on a clock. Studying this ancient Greek antikythera mechanism gives scientists information about the Greeks' knowlege of mathematics and astronomical events, as well as a closer look at the behavior of the culture. Both astronomers and historians are reevaluating the history of astronomy because of this magnificent discovery.