Title | A Model of the Cosmos in the ancient Greek Antikythera Mechanism |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2021 |
Authors | Freeth, Tony, Higgon David, Dacanalis Aris, MacDonald Lindsay, Georgakopoulou Myrto, and Wojcik Adam |
Journal Title | Scientific Reports |
Issue | 11 |
Abstract | The Antikythera Mechanism, an ancient Greek astronomical calculator, has challenged researchers since its discovery in 1901. Now split into 82 fragments, only a third of the original survives, including 30 corroded bronze gearwheels. Microfocus X-ray Computed Tomography (X-ray CT) in 2005 decoded the structure of the rear of the machine but the front remained largely unresolved. X-ray CT also revealed inscriptions describing the motions of the Sun, Moon and all five planets known in antiquity and how they were displayed at the front as an ancient Greek Cosmos. Inscriptions specifying complex planetary periods forced new thinking on the mechanization of this Cosmos, but no previous reconstruction has come close to matching the data. Our discoveries lead to a new model, satisfying and explaining the evidence. Solving this complex 3D puzzle reveals a creation of genius—combining cycles from Babylonian astronomy, mathematics from Plato’s Academy and ancient Greek astronomical theories. |
URL | https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-84310-w |
DOI | 10.1038/s41598-021-84310-w |
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Antikythera Mec...
Some historiography
Those interested on the history of Antikythera Mechanism Research should read this page: http://www.antikythera-mechanism.gr/project/publications and especially the following excerpt:
In 2012, Tony Freeth and Alexander Jones published "The Cosmos in the Antikythera Mechanism", an article about planetary mechanisms. In a 2011 research note that led to that collaboration, Alexander Jones proposed, (on the basis of new readings of the Back Cover Inscription that described the planets as travelling through "circles"), a reconstruction of the front dial with spherelets borne on mobile rings representing the planets, an idea that reappeared in 2021 in a new article on the model of the Cosmos by Tony Freeth and collaborators.
See also this post by Paul Iversen: https://lsv.uky.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A2=CLASSICS-L;70903b35.2103C&FT=&P=18...