Antikythera mechanism

Computers are worth a whole history library, from counting-stones and notched sticks to abacus on to today s supercomputer. It is likely that very sophisticated devices in ancient Greece were lost from history by the fires in the great library in ancient Alexandria. However, a serious contender to the medieval computer mentioned in this chapter is the antikythera mechanism, the clockwork style device discovered more than 100 years ago in a Roman shipwreck and thought to have been used by ancient Greeks to read astronomical cycles. 

Figure 2.1 The Antikythera Mechanism at the National Archaeological Museum, Athens—Giovanni Dall Orto...

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