Decoding an Ancient Computer
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Alexander Jones Calendrica I: New Callippic Dates
ALEXANDER JONES CALENDRICA I: NEW CALLIPPIC DATES aus: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 129 (2000) 141–158 © Dr. Rudolf Habelt GmbH, Bonn 141 CALENDRICA I: NEW CALLIPPIC DATES 1. Introduction. Callippic dates are familiar to students of Greek chronology, even though up to the present they have been known to occur only in a single source, Ptolemy’s Almagest (c. A.D. 150).1 Ptolemy’s Callippic dates appear in the context of discussions of astronomical observations ranging from the early third century B.C. to the third quarter of the second century B.C. In the present article I will present new attestations of Callippic dates which extend the period of the known use of this system by almost two centuries, into the middle of the first century A.D. I also take the opportunity to attempt a fresh examination of what we can deduce about the Callippic calendar and its history, a topic that has lately been the subject of quite divergent treatments. The distinguishing mark of a Callippic date is the specification of the year by a numbered “period according to Callippus” and a year number within that period. Each Callippic period comprised 76 years, and year 1 of Callippic Period 1 began about midsummer of 330 B.C. It is an obvious, and very reasonable, supposition that this convention for counting years was instituted by Callippus, the fourth- century astronomer whose revisions of Eudoxus’ planetary theory are mentioned by Aristotle in Metaphysics Λ 1073b32–38, and who also is prominent among the authorities cited in astronomical weather calendars (parapegmata).2 The point of the cycles is that 76 years contain exactly four so-called Metonic cycles of 19 years. -
The Magic of the Atwood Sphere
The magic of the Atwood Sphere Exactly a century ago, on June Dr. Jean-Michel Faidit 5, 1913, a “celestial sphere demon- Astronomical Society of France stration” by Professor Wallace W. Montpellier, France Atwood thrilled the populace of [email protected] Chicago. This machine, built to ac- commodate a dozen spectators, took up a concept popular in the eigh- teenth century: that of turning stel- lariums. The impact was consider- able. It sparked the genesis of modern planetariums, leading 10 years lat- er to an invention by Bauersfeld, engineer of the Zeiss Company, the Deutsche Museum in Munich. Since ancient times, mankind has sought to represent the sky and the stars. Two trends emerged. First, stars and constellations were easy, especially drawn on maps or globes. This was the case, for example, in Egypt with the Zodiac of Dendera or in the Greco-Ro- man world with the statue of Atlas support- ing the sky, like that of the Farnese Atlas at the National Archaeological Museum of Na- ples. But things were more complicated when it came to include the sun, moon, planets, and their apparent motions. Ingenious mecha- nisms were developed early as the Antiky- thera mechanism, found at the bottom of the Aegean Sea in 1900 and currently an exhibi- tion until July at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers in Paris. During two millennia, the human mind and ingenuity worked constantly develop- ing and combining these two approaches us- ing a variety of media: astrolabes, quadrants, armillary spheres, astronomical clocks, co- pernican orreries and celestial globes, cul- minating with the famous Coronelli globes offered to Louis XIV. -
The Dark Shades of the Antikythera Mechanism
Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-018-6255-9 (0123456789().,-volV)(0123456789().,-volV) The dark shades of the Antikythera Mechanism 1 2 3 Aristeidis Voulgaris • Christophoros Mouratidis • Andreas Vossinakis Received: 19 June 2018 Ó Akade´miai Kiado´, Budapest, Hungary 2018 Abstract In this work we analyze the dark shades which are evident on the AMRP X-ray positive Computed Tomographies and Radiographies of the Antikythera Mechanism ancient prototype. During 2000 years under the sea, the Mechanism bronze parts were totally corroded. The decreased X-ray absorption of the corroded bronze, allowed the CTs capture even in the thick large side of Fragment A. During the photometric analysis of the CTs, apart from corroded bronze, at least two other different (corroded) metal materials were detected, which were used by the ancient manufacturer during the construction of the Antikythera Mechanism. From our analysis and correlating with the mechanical evidence resulting by the use of our functional reconstruction models of the Antikythera Mechanism, we conclude that the existing design of the Antikythera Mechanism is probably the first of such a sophisticated design of the ancient manufacturer. Keywords Metals of Antikythera Mechanism Á Bronze corrosion Á Atacamite X-ray absorption Introduction Mechanism via the 2D X-ray and Thulium 170 radiation began by C. Karakalos of National Centre of Scientific The Antikythera Mechanism was found in 1901, in a Research ‘‘Demokritos’’ (Greece), in the 1970s. Karakalos shipwreck at 50 m depth, on a gulf of Antikythera island, took several film radiographies @160 keV [3]. The first Greece, by Symian sponge divers. -
Pos(Antikythera & SKA)018
Building the Cosmos in the Antikythera Mechanism Tony Freeth1 Antikythera Mechanism Research Project 10 Hereford Road, South Ealing, London W54 4SE, United Kingdom E-mail: [email protected] PoS(Antikythera & SKA)018 Abstract Ever since its discovery by Greek sponge divers in 1901, the Antikythera Mechanism has inspired fascination and fierce debate. In the early years no-one knew what it was. As a result of a hundred years of research, particularly by Albert Rehm, Derek de Solla Price, Michael Wright and, most recently, by members of the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project, there has been huge progress in understanding this geared astronomical calculating machine. With its astonishing lunar anomaly mechanism, it emerges as a landmark in the history of technology and one of the true wonders of the ancient world. The latest model includes a mechanical representation of the Cosmos that exactly matches an inscription on the back cover of the instrument. We believe that we are now close to the complete machine. From Antikythera to the Square Kilometre Array: Lessons from the Ancients, Kerastari, Greece 12-15 June 2012 1 Speaker Copyright owned by the author(s) under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike Licence. http://pos.sissa.it Building the Cosmos in the Antikythera Mechanism Tony Freeth 1. Ancient Astronomy Astronomy? Impossible to understand and madness to investigate... Sophocles Since astronomy is so difficult, I will try to keep everything as simple as possible! As all astronomers know well, the stars are fixed! When the ancients looked at the sky, they saw a number of astronomical bodies that moved relative to the stars. -
The Antikythera Mechanism, Rhodes, and Epeiros
The Antikythera Mechanism, Rhodes, and Epeiros Paul Iversen Introduction I am particularly honored to be asked to contribute to this Festschrift in honor of James Evans. For the last nine years I have been engaged in studying the Games Dial and the calendar on the Metonic Spiral of the Antikythera Mechanism,1 and in that time I have come to admire James’s willingness to look at all sides of the evidence, and the way in which he conducts his research in an atmosphere of collaborative and curious inquiry combined with mutual respect. It has long been suggested that the Antikythera Mechanism may have been built on the is- land of Rhodes,2 one of the few locations attested in ancient literary sources associated with the production of such celestial devices. This paper will strengthen the thesis of a Rhodian origin for the Mechanism by demonstrating that the as-of-2008-undeciphered set of games in Year 4 on the Games Dial were the Halieia of Rhodes, a relatively minor set of games that were, appro- priately for the Mechanism, in honor of the sun-god, Helios (spelled Halios by the Doric Greeks). This paper will also summarize an argument that the calendar on the Metonic Spiral cannot be that of Syracuse, and that it is, contrary to the assertions of a prominent scholar in Epirote stud- ies, consistent with the Epirote calendar. This, coupled with the appearance of the extremely minor Naan games on the Games Dial, suggests that the Mechanism also had some connection with Epeiros. The Games Dial and the Halieia of Rhodes The application in the fall of 2005 of micro-focus X-ray computed tomography on the 82 surviv- ing fragments of the Antikythera Mechanism led to the exciting discovery and subsequent publi- cation in 2008 of a dial on the Antikythera Mechanism listing various athletic games now known as the Olympiad Dial (but which I will call the Games or Halieiad Dial—more on that below), as well as a hitherto unknown Greek civil calendar on what is now called the Metonic Spiral.3 I begin with my own composite drawing of the Games Dial (Fig. -
The Draconic Gearing of the Antikythera Mechanism: Assembling the Fragment D, Its Role and Operation
The Draconic gearing of the Antikythera Mechanism: Assembling the Fragment D, its role and operation A.Voulgaris1, C.Mouratidis2, A.Vossinakis3, G.Bokovos4 (Submitted 14 January 2020) 1Municipality of Thessaloniki, Directorate Culture and Tourism, Thessaloniki, GR-54625, Greece 2Hellenic Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs, Kos, GR-85300, Greece 3Thessaloniki Astronomy Club, Thessaloniki, GR-54646, Greece 4Thessaloniki Science Center and Technology Museum-Planetarium, Thermi, GR-57001, Greece Abstract The unplaced Fragment D of the Antikythera Mechanism with an unknown operation was a mystery since the beginning of its discovery. The gear-r1, which was detected on the Fragment radiographies by C. Karakalos, is preserved in excellent condition, but this was not enough to correlate it to the existing gear trainings of the Mechanism. The suggestion that this gear could be a part of the hypothetical planet indication gearing is still a hypothesis since no mechanical evidence has been preserved. After the analysis of AMRP tomographies of Fragment D and its mechanical characteristics revealed that it could be part of the Draconic gearing. Although the Draconic cycle was well known during the Mechanism’s era as represents the fourth Lunar cycle, it seems that it is missing from the Antikythera Mechanism. The study of Fragment D was supported by the bronze reconstruction of the Draconic gearing by the authors. The adaptation of the Draconic gearing on the Antikythera Mechanism improves its functionality and gives answers on several questions. 1. Introduction. The Antikythera Mechanism, a geared machine based on the lunar cycles The Antikythera Mechanism a creation of an ingenious manufacturer of the Hellenistic era was a geared machine capable of performing complex astronomical calculations, mostly based on the lunar periodic cycles. -
The Antikythera Mechanism: the Ancient Computer That Mapped The
Sign In | Register Home Space The Antikythera Mechanism: the ancient Greek computer that mapped the stars Built over 2,000 years ago, the Antikythera mechanism calculated the movement of the Sun, Moon and planets using a system of dials and gears. 18th September, 2019 at 00:00 Imagine, in an age long before miniaturised electronics, a portable machine, the size and shape of a shoebox, that showed a moving picture of the cosmos, with the Sun, the Moon, and the planets orbiting at greatly accelerated speed, so that with a few twists of a knob, you could see where they would be in the sky on some chosen date years in the future or past. It sounds like something in a fantasy story, but the mysterious Antikythera Mechanism shows that these devices were indeed being built, over 2,000 years ago. Ad Try the Bike for 30 Days Exquisite devices like this were being crafted in a GTrey ethek w Bikorkesh forop 30 days, worry-free. somewhere in the eastern Mediterranean about 2,100 years ago or more. One of them met an unfortunate accident—for its owner, aLnEywARNay M, bOuRtE fortunate for us since from its shattered remains we can learn a great deal about ancient Greek science and its public face. The accident happened around 60 BC, off the island of Antikythera in the straits between Crete and the Peloponnese: a ship laden with bronze and marble statuary and other luxury objects, en route from the Aegean Sea to destinations in the western Mediterranean, was violently wrecked. ADVERTISING Replay inRead invented by Teads A team of Greek sponge divers discovered the shipwreck in 1900, and over the next year they salvaged what they could under the Greek government’s supervision. -
Solstices & Equinoxes –Precession – Phases of the Moon –Eclipses
Today –Solstices & Equinoxes –Precession –Phases of the Moon –Eclipses • Lunar, Solar –Ancient Astronomy FIRST HOMEWORK DUE NEXT TIME © 2007 Pearson Education Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley Tropic: Latitude where the sun [just] reaches the zenith at noon on the summer solstice Arctic/Antarctic Circle: Latitude where the sun does not set [just barely] on the summer solstice (like a circumpolar star) nor does it rise on the winter solstice o N 66.5 arctic Ecliptic plane Tropic of Cancer 23.5o Tropic of Capricorn Equator antarctic © 2007 Pearson Education Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley Seasonal changes are more extreme at high latitudes. Path of the Sun on the summer solstice at the Arctic Circle © 2007 Pearson Education Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley How does the orientation of Earth’s axis change with time? Precession: • Although the axis seems fixed on human time scales, it actually precesses over about 26,000 years. — Polaris won’t always be the North Star. Earth’s axis wobbles like the axis of a spinning top. © 2007 Pearson Education Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley • Precession: the orientation of Earth’s axis slowly changes with time: — The tilt remains about 23.5 degrees (so the season pattern is not affected), but Earth has a 26,000 year precession cycle that slowly and subtly changes the orientation of the Earth’s axis. — The discovery of precession is attributed to the Ancient Greek astronomer Hipparchus (c. 280 BC) © 2007 Pearson Education Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley Lunar phases • Lunar phases are a consequence of the Moon’s 27.3-day orbit around Earth. -
The Antikythera Mechanism
Material The Antikythera Mechanism Copyrighted Universal-Publishers Material Copyrighted Universal-Publishers The Antikythera Mechanism The Story Behind the Genius of the Greek Computer and its Demise Material Evaggelos G. Vallianatos, PhD Copyrighted Universal-Publishers Universal-Publishers Irvine • Boca Raton The Antikythera Mechanism: The Story Behind the Genius of the Greek Computer and its Demise Copyright © 2021 Evaggelos G. Vallianatos. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. Universal Publishers, Inc. Irvine • Boca Raton USA • 2021 www.Universal-Publishers.com ISBN: 978-1-62734-358-9 (pbk.) ISBN: 978-1-62734-359-6 (ebk.) For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, please access www. copyright.com or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC) at 978-750-8400. CCC is a not-for-profit organization that provides licenses and registration for a variety of users. For organizations that have been granted a photocopy licenseMaterial by the CCC, a separate system of payments has been arranged. Front cover painting of the Antikythera Mechanism by Evi Sarantea Painting of the Antikythera Mechanism by the Greek artist Evi Sarantea. The painting is a panorama of the artist’s vision of what the Antikythera Mechanism was at the time of its creation in the second century BCE and what it became in the twenty-first century: an emblem in a galactic temple decorated by a Renaissance clock and, on the left side, surrounded by the Wheel of the Sun god Helios depicting the Cosmos of the Sun, the Moon, and the planets, all bathed in stars and constellations, including the interlocking gears below the Cosmos. -
The Island of the Sun: Spatial Aspect of Solstices in Early Greek Thought Tomislav Bilić
The Island of the Sun: Spatial Aspect of Solstices in Early Greek Thought Tomislav Bilić HE SOLSTICES are the defining moments in the annual solar motion. The phenomenon, representing the maxi- T mum solar distance from the equator (i.e., declination), is manifested both on the temporal and on the spatial level. With regard to the former, it entails recognition of the longest and the shortest daytimes of the year, with the length increas- ing from winter to summer solstice and decreasing during the remaining half of the year. This phenomenon is more pro- nounced with an increase in latitude, culminating in a 24-hour solstice daytime or night at ca. 66°. However, it is the spatial level that is discussed in this paper. The problem is approached by an analysis of several heliotropia, devices for marking or measuring solar turnings, and the Greek notion of solar turnings themselves, which is in its turn studied through discussion of the occurrences of the phrase τροπαὶ (ἠελίοιο) and its variants in traditional and in scientific texts.1 Both the name of the marking-device and the phrase with its 1 Both types of texts belong to a common Greek ethnographic context, which embraces a wide range of cultural phenomena. For the notion of ethnographic context see especially the works of M. Detienne: “The Myth of ‘Honeyed Orpheus’,” in R. L. Gordon (ed.), Myth, Religion and Society. Structuralist Essays by M. Detienne, L. Gernet, J.-P. Vernant and P. Vidal-Naquet (Cambridge 1981) 95–109, at 98–99, 106–109; The Gardens of Adonis. -
Supplementary Notes, Submitted Version
Calendars with Olympiad and Eclipse Prediction on the Antikythera Mechanism SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES Tony Freeth1,2, Alexander Jones3, John M. Steele4 & Yanis Bitsakis1,5 1Antikythera Mechanism Research Project, 3 Tyrwhitt Crescent, Roath Park, Cardiff CF23 5QP, UK. 2Images First Ltd, 10 Hereford Road, South Ealing, London W5 4SE, UK. 3Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, 15 East 84th Street, New York, NY 10028, USA. 4Department of Physics, University of Durham, Rochester Building, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK. 5Centre for History and Palaeography, 3, P. Skouze str., GR-10560 Athens, Greece. Calendars with Olympiad and Eclipse Prediction on the Antikythera Mechanism Supplementary Notes TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. OVERVIEW OF THE ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM 3 1.1 The Fragments 3 1.2 The Architecture of the Mechanism 3 2. DATA ACQUISITION & ANALYSIS 5 2.1 Data Acquisition 5 2.2 Data Analysis 6 3. METONIC, OLYMPIAD & CALLIPPIC DIALS 7 3.1 Fragments that witness the Back Dials 7 3.2 The Calendar of the Metonic spiral 8 3.3 Structure of the Calendar 12 3.4 The Calendar's Provenance 14 3.5 The Olympiad Dial 19 3.6 Gearing for the Olympiad Dial 22 3.7 The Callippic Dial 23 3.8 Reconstruction of the Upper Back Dials 23 4. SAROS & EXELIGMOS DIALS 24 4.1 The Saros Dial & the Glyphs 24 4.2 Matching the Glyphs with Observations 29 4.3 Babylonian Schemes for Eclipse Prediction 31 4.4 Alphabetical Index Letters 32 4.5 Models for generating the Antikythera Glyph Sequence 33 4.6 The Problem of the Glyph Times 37 4.7 The Four-Turn Saros Dial 38 4.8 The Exeligmos Dial 39 4.9 Reconstruction of the Lower Back Dials 41 5. -
The Lecture Notes In
STARS Talk April 27 2009 Poseidonius of Rhodes and the Antikythera computer By Alan Rifkin [email protected] www.Rifkin.com/Greece (start voice recorder) Good evening. When I started this project, I though my love of astronomy, computers and mysteries would be enough. There is so much of the past that is lost. Here is an old computer ( Stonehenge) in Amesbury England that still has untold number of questions to answer. I figured I could go to Greece and get to see the pieces of the AM, take some pictures and come back to you about it. Ah, if life were so simple. This project took on a life of it’s own. First most of my emails to anyone went unanswered. Then I signed up to be on the list of the AMRP. (slide) finally got someone to return my emails. What I found out about the processes of seeing and photographing the mechanism is a whole other story. First lets go back in time to April of 1901. Compressed air underwater equipment , the forerunner to SCUBA was recently invented and available commercially. But first I have to apologize to anyone who speaks Greek for my mispronunciation of the names and places. I can read Greek, but can not Talk Greek. Here is an example of the problems can anyone tell me the name of the second largest city in Greece? slide Here it is in Greek Θεσσαλονίκη … Here is how it is spelled in English. Thessaloniki And it is pronounce sell-on-ic-a A crew of Greek sponge divers on their way home had to stop at Antikythera ( mapa) Antikythera, anti means in front of.