Today's blog will be short one...we will look into a very interesting man-made (or is it?) object that was discovered by sailors from deep within the seas adjoining the Greek island of Symi.
Why is this discovery important to us, what does this tell about the knowledge and technological advancements in ancient civilisations and how does it help us in understanding our grand old predecessors.
This is the story of an ancient instrument (or device) used by people then, for calculating many astronomical data ranging from durations of solar and lunar eclipses to the position of celestial bodies in the future. This device is called the 'Antikythera mechanism', a very strong, convincing example of a result of human creativity and thinking...
''Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man's desire to understand''
-Neil Armstrong
'ANTEKYTHERA' IS DISCOVERED
It all began in the year 1902. The sailors led by their captain were carrying out their routine sea exploration. They were on their way to their country when a terrible storm broke out abruptly from nowhere. The captain decided to haul their ship near the 'Antikythera islands' in Greece.
The sailors in the ship were 'sponge divers', who were employed for collecting sponges for human use. The next day the divers went underwater to collect the sponges when they noticed something unusual- an old ship wreckage. The ship, according to them were hundreds and thousands of years old. They decided to report their discovery to the captain leaving behind the sponges which at that point of time were less important for them.
The captain was not excited about this as and characterised it as an illusion, moreover it was common to see ship wrecks in those regions, prone to deadly storms. The captain finally went underwater after his assistants (sailors) continuously persuaded him to come down and examine the wreck.
To his surprise, the captain saw precious stones and jewellery in the wreck, dead body-like copper statues, moreover after careful examination of the things recovered from the wreck they could make out that all those artifacts from the wreck belonged to ancient Roman people, two thousand years ago.
They were awe-struck when they saw such historical artifacts which lay undisturbed for years under the dark waters of Symi. But...one thing that they recovered from the wreck demanded a lot of attention, it was a very old device which was covered mostly with the algae and other dirt that it acquired since it was there at that location. This particular device was kept inside a box, well protected...
This raised suspicion...
Why did they not store valuable things like gold and other jewellery inside a trunk and instead kept this device in it under utmost care and protection???
Did you have this doubt???
I did have this when I first learnt about this device...
What made them do so? Is this device hiding any secret???🤔
ANTIKYTHERA IS STUDIED
The sea-divers (sailors) knew that something was special about this strange device, and decided to take it back to the land and examined it cautiously and intuitively.
Since the device was in a very bad condition as a large area of the device was covered with dirt, stones and rocks that stuck to it during its stay underwater, moreover we did not have the adequate technological capabilities to study such a device. Technologically, the device was very advanced that humans could make such a device only in the future when we would have the knowledge about advanced technology.
Antikythera demanded sophisticated instruments for examination due to its terrible condition and so it was kept in a museum until the most advanced X-Ray machines were brought from England to Greece.
WHAT MAKES 'ANTIKYTHERA' SPECIAL?
Figure 3: A 2007 recreated model of 'Antikythera mechanism'.
The technology used in 'Antikythera mechanism' is so advanced that it is practically not possible for us to decode and understand such complex technological ideas. This gives us a hint of our predecessors. They were extremely intelligent and creative and had more knowledge about how to use things productively than us and make things that are beyond our ability to perceive.
In other words, this device is ahead of our time.
Careful examination of the device revealed the presence of 41 different types of gears. Further exploration revealed a very startling information, it was a computer used 2000 years ago...what?...look at the image given above...does it look like a computer to you?...not exactly...but it is...it is an astronomical computer.
As mentioned in the beginning this device could precisely tell the location of planets if we provide a specific date in one gear. It would give important results like
1) Position of Moon
2) Angle made by Earth with Sun, etc.
This device also had the capability of predicting the position of planets in the future, you need to do the same procedure once again, by giving a specific day in future and locate the position of planets on that day which is actually in the future. The most notable achievement of this device is that the values that it gave were very precise and crystal clear that matched with existing calculated values of such distances and angles.
It also brought along with it some theories about how it was invented and it can be used as a 'time machine'.
ANTIKYTHERA AND ITS MYSTERIES
We all know that people are keen to investigate mysteries and things went the same way for 'Antikythera mechanism' also.
Figure 4: A hypothetical schematic representation of gearing system in, 'Antikythera mechanism'.
1. Antikythera mechanism and aliens:
Though many scientists like Prof. Stephen Hawking believed in the existence of aliens, there is no scientific bases to such arguments. Our association with aliens still remains a big mystery and scientists are still investigating the existence of such 'ideal conditions'.
Since the technology in 'Antikythera', was a very advanced one, supporters of 'alien theory' suggests that aliens helped early human beings in making such complex devices and that it is a an example of a human-alien relationship that existed in the past...do you believe in this theory?
2. Antikythera mechanism as a time machine:
Though 'Antikythera mechanism' was used more than 2000 years ago, the technology used in it did not reach human beings (Homo sapiens), for more than 100 years. The supporters of this theory claims that this device time travelled and went back to Greece but they are yet to give us the medium (or an individual, maybe) through which the device time travelled.
Figure 5: Computer model of the cosmos display. In the centre, the dome of the Earth, the phase of the Moon and its position in the Zodiac—then rings for Mercury, Venus, true Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Date, with “little sphere” markers.
In this blog, I have not included the 'mechanism' of this device, purposefully because it is a very complex phenomenon. As I have mentioned the technology used in this device is beyond our scope of research but we are continuing our efforts in understanding this 'mechanism' and solve the mysteries that is associated with this device, which as of now remains the greatest mystery in the history of mankind.
I decided to write this blog since the I found the topic interesting and worth-mentioning. I also want you to appreciate the creativity of the individual behind this amazing phenomena which is ahead of us in every sense. When you are distressed and broken try to engage yourself by looking at the world around you, you will see wonderful phenomena that may sound simple but hides deep secrets behind it, nature is your resource, observe it, understand from it and live with it...you will soon see the 'scientist' in you...
''It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity''
-Albert Einstein
References:
1. All the pictures published in this blog were taken from;
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Antikythera_Mechanism
2. Information credits: Wikipedia (dates and story), Cinemagic YouTube Channel which prompted me to write this blog.
Very informative, never knew about such a device till I read your blog!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. The knowledge about this device is largely unknown for the public, which prompted me to write about this device.
DeleteWonderful!!
ReplyDeleteLoved the last paragraph ❤
Thank you so much...the last paragraph was indeed written from my own experience 😊
ReplyDelete