Decoding the Heavens - Antikythera mechanism

The Book

In 1900 a group of sponge divers blown off course in the Mediterranean discovered an Ancient Greek shipwreck dating from around 70 BC.

Lying unnoticed for months amongst their hard-won haul was what appeared to be a formless lump of corroded rock. It turned out to be the most stunning scientific artefact we have from antiquity. For more than a century this 'Antikythera mechanism' puzzled academics. It was ancient clockwork, unmatched in complexity for 1000 years - but who could have made it, and what was it for? Now, more than 2000 years after the device was lost at sea, scientists have pieced together its intricate workings and revealed its secrets.

In Decoding the Heavens, Jo Marchant tells the full story of the 100-year quest to understand this ancient computer. Along the way she unearths a diverse cast of remarkable characters – ranging from Archimedes to Jacques Cousteau – and explores the deep roots of modern technology not only in ancient Greece but in the Islamic world and medieval Europe too. At heart an epic adventure story, this is a book that challenges our assumptions about technology transfer over the ages while giving us fresh insights into history itself.

***Shortlisted for the 2009 Royal Society Prize for Science Books***

Reviews

  • Though it is more than 2,000 years old, the Antikythera Mechanism represents a level that our technology did not match until the 18th century, and must therefore rank as one of the greatest basic mechanical inventions of all time. I hope this book will rekindle interest in this artefact, which still remains under-rated.Arthur C. Clarke

Antikythera mechanism in Scientific American

Close-up of mechanism's front dial, from reconstruction by Michael Wright

Posted: 12/2/2009 10:17:00 AM
In the December issue of Scientific American there's a lengthy feature on the Antikythera mechanism by film-maker Tony Freeth, driving force behind the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project. He gives some background to this 2000-year-old artefact and its significance as well as talking through his team's research on it and their result... more