Computing the Cosmos, The Antikythera Mechanism
Computing the Cosmos is an exhibition dedicated to the Antikythera Mechanism, Archaeo-Astronomy, and our current efforts of mapping the Cosmos. Presented through an immersive fulldome Planetarium film along with interactive displays and our “Meet Archimedes ” science show, Computing the Cosmos brings the science of the Antikythera Mechanism to life taking us on a journey from 100 BCE up to the present day.
The Antikythera Mechanism has often been described as the World’s Oldest Computer. It was discovered on Easter Tuesday, 1900, where sponge divers from the island of Symi discovered a Roman shipwreck near the coast of the small island of Antikythera. A few months later, the Greek State organized the very first major underwater archaeology expedition, with the sponge divers, assisted by the Greek Royal Navy.
Computing the Cosmos Exhibition
The exhibition is centred around the Fulldome Show which is presented within a 5 metre digital mobile planetarium dome. The Antikythera Mechanism is an ingenious device, over a century of research has now established that it is in fact the oldest known astronomical and calendrical calculating machine. It can predict lunar and solar eclipses for decades to come. Its technology is so complex, it has astounded and intrigued scientists throughout the world. Computing the Cosmos covers the story of how the Antikythera Mechanism was discovered, what we currently know about it, and modern attempts by astronomers to map our cosmos to give us a better understanding of our place within the Universe.
Exhibition display images
The Antikythera Shipwreck
The wreck is dated ca 80 – 60 BCE while much of its rich cargo dates from before the second century BCE; among the superb findings was an object containing gears, dials and inscriptions, also dated during the second half of this century. This particular object is now called the “Antikythera Mechanism” and is on display at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. Since its discovery, speculation on its use has run from an astronomical device, an astrolabe, planetarium or navigational device, to a combination of various devices.
Over a century of research has now established that it is in fact the oldest known astronomical and calendrical calculating machine.
The three main fragments of the Mechanism are on display in the Bronze Collection of the National Archaeological Museum; the remaining 79 smaller fragments are kept in the collection’s store.
The Antikythera Mechanism
The Antikythera Mechanism is the oldest known scientific instrument, made around 150 to 100 BC. It is also the oldest [analogue] computer and the first known Mechanical Universe, i.e. the first planetarium.
The Mechanism works with bronze gears perform mathematical operations, giving the position the Sun and Moon, the phase during the month, predicts eclipses. Maintains calendars based on the Meton’s period (19 years) and Callippus period (76 years), determines the dates of the Olympic and other Games, the Pythian, Isthmian, Naa, Nemean. It predicts the solar and lunar eclipses based on a long tradition of previous observations and on two types of lunisolar cycles, the Saros and Exeligmos (3 Saroi cycles) and Meton’s and Callippus cycles. The Saros gives the date and the Meton and Callippus cycles give the exact position on the sky with respect to the stars that was essential for an exact prediction of the longitude on the Earth that a solar and even lunar eclipse will occur and where it will be visible.
Antikythera Mechanism Workshop
This interactive hands-on workshop gives you the opportunity to make your own version of the Antikythera Mechanism. Using gear wheels, LEGO TECHNIC and K’nex pieces, a model of the Antikythera Mechanism is constructed and the mechanism’s complex gears investigated. How did the makers of this ingenious device manage to construct a mechanism which could calculate the lunar cycle?
ARTEMIS SPACE 