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The Antikythera Mechanism The Story Behind the Genius of the Greek Computer and its Demise

TitleThe Antikythera Mechanism The Story Behind the Genius of the Greek Computer and its Demise
Publication TypeBook
Year of Publication2021
AuthorsVallianatos, Evaggelos G.
Publisher Universal-Publishers
ISBN Number9781627343589
Abstract

In Antikythera Mechanism: The Story Behind the Genius of the Greek Computer and Its Demise, Evaggelos G. Vallianatos, historian and ecopolitical theorist, shows that after the conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great in the late fourth century BCE, the Greeks, especially in Egypt, reached unprecedented heights of achievements in science, technology, and civilization. The Antikythera Mechanism, an astronomical computer probably crafted in Rhodes in the second century BCE, was proof of that prowess. It's the grandfather of our computers.

Greek sponge divers discovered the Antikythera Mechanism in 1900 on a 2,100-year-old Roman-era shipwreck. The hand-powered device reveals a sophisticated Greek technology previously unknown to scholars and historians, not seen and understood again until the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The book not only describes how the sophisticated political and technological infrastructure of the Greeks after Alexander the Great resulted in the Antikythera celestial computer, and the bedrock of science and technology we know today, but also how the influence of Christianity on Greek civilization destroyed the nascent computer age of ancient Greece. Vallianatos, born in Greece and educated in America, is a historian, author, and journalist. He is a passionate champion of Greek culture and a well-suited guide to this historical account. Vallianatos explains how and why Greek scientists employed advanced engineering in translating the beautiful conception of the Antikythera Mechanism into an astronomical computer of genius: a bronze-geared device of mathematical astronomy, predicting the eclipses of the Sun and the Moon; calculating the risings and settings of important stars and constellations, and the movements of the planets around the Sun; while mechanizing the predictions of scientific theories. The computer’s accurate calendar connected these cosmic phenomena to the Olympics and other major Panhellenic religious and athletic celebrations, bringing the Greeks closer to their gods, traditions, and the Cosmos.

This book is unlike any other. It tells the story behind the genius of the Antikythera Mechanism, including the decoding of its secrets in the last 120 years – and much more. It gives the ancient Greek historical context that makes sense of the computer, explaining its matchless genius. This book would be of great interest to discerning readers, especially those who love Greek civilization and are curious about the origins of science. It’s also full of insights for computer geeks, start-ups, computer company designers, and users.

A bold new interpretation, Antikythera Mechanism tells a riveting story of the Greeks’ greatest technological achievement, and how Christianity ended a potential computer age in ancient Greece.

URLhttps://www.universal-publishers.com/book.php?method=ISBN&book=162734358X
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