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A Classical Wonder: The Antikythera Mechanism

The Antikythera Mechanism

Chapter Menu

1. The Discovery
2. Scanning the Layers
3. How Did it Work
4. Who Made the Antikythera?
5. An Extraordinary Machine

A Classical Wonder: The Antikythera Mechanism

Divers exploring a Roman shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera in 1901 found the remains of a baffling device. Fifty years later scholars slowly began to unlock its ancient mystery.

The Antikythera mechanism is the oldest known scientific calculator. A complex arrangement of over 30 gears could determine with remarkable precision the position of the sun, moon and planets, predict eclipses and track the dates of Olympic Games.

This remarkable 2,000-year-old device has revolutionized our understanding of the ancient Greeks’ abilities—both their scientific acumen and their craftsmanship.

X-ray of a fragment of the Antikythera Mechanism

This radiograph shows many of the gears, shafts, dials, and other parts embedded in the main fragment of the Antikythera mechanism.

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Fragment of the Antikythera mechanism

The principal fragment of the Antikythera Mechanism contains most of the original mechanism’s surviving gears. It is displayed in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.

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