the antikytheran mechanism. the world's first computer!

the antikytheran mechanism. the world's first computer; 1800 years before charles babbage.
the original, and only one of it's kind was found by pearl divers of the coast of antikythera, a small greecian island, near crete, in 1900. the device itself is from the 1st century bc, and is most likely from 86bc. however, this type of device was used throughout the ancient world from at least a century before.

the antikytheran mechanism was used to keep track of important dates, the future olympic dates, but most importantly, it was an astrological calendar and calculator. it could determine the astrological signs for any given day, as well as the moon cycle. this was most important to ancient peoples and certain events would not begin until the astrology was just right.



watch a video of a reconstructed model, built with identical materials and designs as the original.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrfMFhrgOFc