The Antikythera Mechanism

21 snips

Dec 12, 2024

Guest

Liba Taub

Mike Edmunds, an expert in the Antikythera Mechanism and Emeritus Professor of Astrophysics, joins science journalist Jo Marchant and Liba Taub, Professor Emerita in the History and Philosophy of Science. They delve into the fascinating 2000-year-old artefact, revealing how it reshapes our understanding of ancient Greek astronomy. The trio discusses the intricate gear systems that model celestial movements, the cultural influences from Babylonian astronomy, and the significance of its complex engineering that challenges previous notions about ancient technology.

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ANECDOTE

Discovery of the Mechanism

In 1900, sponge divers discovered the Antikythera Mechanism on a Roman-era shipwreck.
The divers initially mistook statues for corpses and the mechanism was an unassuming lump.

INSIGHT

Ship's Route and Cargo

The ship's route suggests a trade route from the eastern Mediterranean towards Italy.
The mechanism's inclusion hints at its high status, potentially belonging to a wealthy individual.

ANECDOTE

Rediscovery and Initial Examination

Spiridon Stais, a former Greek Minister of Education, rediscovered the mechanism in a museum basement.
Its cracked surface revealed gear wheels, hinting at its unique nature for the classical world.

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Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 2000-year-old device which transformed our understanding of astronomy in ancient Greece. In 1900 a group of sponge divers found the wreck of a ship off the coast of the Greek island of Antikythera. Among the items salvaged was a corroded bronze object, the purpose of which was not at first clear. It turned out to be one of the most important discoveries in marine archaeology. Over time, researchers worked out that it was some kind of astronomical analogue computer, the only one to survive from this period as bronze objects were so often melted down for other uses. In recent decades, detailed examination of the Antikythera Mechanism using the latest scientific techniques indicates that it is a particularly intricate tool for showing the positions of planets, the sun and moon, with a complexity and precision not surpassed for over a thousand years.

With

Mike Edmunds Emeritus Professor of Astrophysics at Cardiff University

Jo Marchant Science journalist and author of 'Decoding the Heavens' on the Antikythera Mechanism

And

Liba Taub Professor Emerita in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge and Visiting Scholar at the Deutsches Museum, Munich

Producer: Simon Tillotson In Our Time is a BBC Studios Audio Production

Reading list:

Derek de Solla Price, Gears from the Greeks: The Antikythera Mechanism (American Philosophical Society Press, 1974)

M. G. Edmunds, ‘The Antikythera mechanism and the mechanical universe’ (Contemp. Phys. 55, 2014)

M.G. Edmunds, ’The Mechanical Universe’ (Astronomy & Geophysics, 64, 2023)

James Evans and J. Lennart Berggren, Geminos's Introduction to the Phenomena: A Translation and Study of a Hellenistic Survey of Astronomy (Princeton University Press, 2006)

T. Freeth et al., ‘Calendars with Olympiad display and eclipse prediction on the Antikythera mechanism’ (Nature 454, 2008)

Alexander Jones, A Portable Cosmos: Revealing the Antikythera Mechanism, Scientific Wonder of the Ancient World (Oxford University Press, 2017)

Jo Marchant, Decoding the Heavens: Solving the Mystery of the World’s First Computer (Windmill Books, 2009)

J.H. Seiradakis and M.G. Edmunds, ‘Our current knowledge of the Antikythera Mechanism’ (Nature Astronomy 2, 2018)

Liba Taub, Ancient Greek and Roman Science: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2022)