In 1901, off the coast of Antikythera island, a corroded artifact was recovered from an ancient shipwreck. What appeared to be a block of bronze and wood was revealed, after study, to be a complex gear mechanism. It dates from around 150-100 BC and its function was to calculate astronomical positions and predict eclipses. It is considered a primitive analog computer.
An Assembly of Differential Gears and Astronomical Cycles 🔧
The device integrated more than 30 bronze gears, manually operated. These gears modeled the cycles of the Moon, the Sun, and known planets. It used a system of epicyclic gears, similar to a modern differential, to compensate for orbital irregularities. Markers and dials displayed lunar phases, eclipses, and dates of Panhellenic games. Its precision derives from applying Babylonian mathematical ratios to a mechanical system.
The First Brick in History Didn't Have a USB Port 😄
Imagine having to explain a fault in that system. There would be no firmware updates or technical support. The user manual was probably on papyrus and was lost in the same shipwreck. Today we reboot a router; an ancient Greek might have shaken the mechanism or given it a tap with a sandal. And to think we call a culture primitive whose most complex equipment took two millennia to be understood.